recluse
Americannoun
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a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society, often for religious meditation.
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Also a religious voluntary immured in a cave, hut, or the like, or one remaining within a cell for life.
adjective
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shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion, often for religious reasons.
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characterized by seclusion; solitary.
noun
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a person who lives in seclusion
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a person who lives in solitude to devote himself to prayer and religious meditation; a hermit, anchorite, or anchoress
adjective
Other Word Forms
- nonreclusive adjective
- reclusion noun
- reclusive adjective
- unrecluse adjective
- unreclusive adjective
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
Xu, an online megaposter but real-life recluse, has rarely spoken with reporters and hasn’t been photographed in public for nearly a decade.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025
The police warned her of a threat against her - known as a TM1 notice - and she described being in "turmoil" and becoming a recluse.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025
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
But I was not a recluse; my ten days there were divided among ANC business, seeing old friends, and occasional jaunts as a conventional tourist.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
