recluse

American  

[rek-loos, ri-kloos, ri-kloos, rek-loos] / ˈrɛk lus, rɪˈklus, rɪˈklus, ˈrɛk lus /

noun

• recluses
  plural

1. a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society, often for religious meditation.

2. Also a religious voluntary immured in a cave, hut, or the like, or one remaining within a cell for life.

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adjective

1. shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion, often for religious reasons.

2. characterized by seclusion; solitary.

recluse British  

/ rɪˈkluːs /

noun

1. a person who lives in seclusion

2. a person who lives in solitude to devote himself to prayer and religious meditation; a hermit, anchorite, or anchoress

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adjective

1. solitary; retiring

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reclusion
  noun
• nonreclusive
  adjective
• reclusive
  adjective
• unrecluse
  adjective
• unreclusive
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• recluses
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of recluse

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French reclus < Late Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere to shut up, equivalent to re- re- + -clūd-, combining form of claudere to close + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s

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Explanation

A recluse lives alone, works alone, eats alone, and generally stays away from other people. Anti-social old hermits are recluses, as are a lot of students during exam time. In the early 13th century, a recluse was a person who shut out the world to go meditate on religious issues. But nowadays recluses can think about whatever they want while they're sitting in solitude — they're simply people who shy away from social interaction and live secluded lives. Or think of the Brown Recluse spider, who likes to hide out in dark old boots or undisturbed corners of the basement.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recluse recluses

But years of awful press had turned him into a recluse.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026

Paul is a recluse with a reputation as a genius with color.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

As Boo Radley, a mysterious recluse in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Duvall was on screen for less than five minutes at the film’s end and had no lines.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026

Born in Virginia, D'Angelo was something of a recluse and only periodically surfaced to release music, most of which was received favorably by fans and critics.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025

“By the way,” he said, “we’ve had a problem lately with brown recluse spiders in the facility.”

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover

These recluses are known as hikikomori, a term first coined in Japan in the 1990s to describe severe social withdrawal amongst adolescents and young adults.

From BBC ● May 26, 2023

The quartet’s exhilarating brand of emo, primarily from their stellar album “I Became Birds,” blends the fiery rage of hardcore with the oddball existentialism of indie recluses Neutral Milk Hotel.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2021

Neighbors who put their pickups into park to chat when they drove past each other and recluses who shunned society.

From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2020

Yet such withdrawal can feed on itself, depriving recluses of the social interaction that is important to mental health, undermining relationships and careers and contributing to economic hardship.

From Economist ● Jun. 14, 2018

Instead of starting junior high school, I lived like the Victorian recluses I read about.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

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Related Words

• hermit

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