seclude
Americanverb (used with object)
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to place in or withdraw into solitude; remove from social contact and activity, etc.
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to isolate; shut off; keep apart.
They secluded the garden from the rest of the property.
verb
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to remove from contact with others
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to shut off or screen from view
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of seclude
1425–75; late Middle English < Latin sēclūdere, equivalent to sē- se- + -clūdere, combining form of claudere to close
Explanation
When you seclude someone, you separate them from other people. A Buddhist monk might seclude himself in a remote place to meditate alone for several weeks. Most people use the verb seclude to talk about shutting themselves away from society or keeping themselves separate from others. An eccentric family might seclude itself from the neighbors, for example. The root is Latin, secludere, which means "shut off or confine," from se, "apart" and cludere, "to shut." Originally, seclude was used to mean "to enclose or confine," and by the 1620s it also meant "to keep from public view."
Vocabulary lists containing seclude
Case Closed: Clud, Clus
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se (apart)
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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.
See Examples For:
While some may find the prepackaged meals convenient, she says they encourage people to seclude themselves in their roomettes and discourage one-on-one time with other travelers at the dining table.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2019
At one point, he suggests that to help make up her mind she go away from London, where they live, and seclude herself in a cottage in Wales.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 22, 2018
She suggested he seclude himself at Yaddo, the artists’ colony in upstate New York.
From New York Times ● Nov. 6, 2017
It sells anonymous offshore companies that help the owners seclude their business dealings.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2017
She would have to begin at once by giving up all luxuries, amenities, and intercourse with the world, and promise to continue to seclude herself entirely in his company.
From A Book of Sibyls Miss Barbauld, Miss Edgeworth, Mrs Opie, Miss Austen by Ritchie, Anne Thackeray
While the property boasts far more outdoor space than their Beverly Hills abode, for those seeking a private, secluded retreat in California, the couple’s former Golden State dwelling could well be the perfect place.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
The secluded beauty spot sold at auction for £20,000 in September 2024 to Leisure Estate Investments Ltd, which has discouraged public access because of "inherent safety risks".
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
In a secluded area of La Esperanza cemetery in La Guaira, gravediggers buried more than 150 bodies still unidentified since the earthquakes, AFP journalists saw.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
This is the story of what happens to a dream deferred in the dusty apartments, drag clubs and secluded rivers of Colombia in the 1990s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
We might live inside the city limits, but every night when this town shuts down, it’s hard to forget how secluded we are.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
My other concern is people are secluding their lives with people who either think like them or more extreme forms of it.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2023
“Yep, I’m watching Mr. Eldridge,” one scout says on the phone before secluding himself from earshot.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2023
Its next resident will find a private dock, tall trees secluding the pool and spa, and “an effortless, single level indoor/outdoor living experience.”
From Seattle Times ● May 9, 2022
You see how they’re carrying themselves, if they’re secluding themselves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2020
A stroke of palsy deprived her of her accustomed elasticity of spirits, and, secluding herself from society, she became silent and sad.
From Madame Roland, Makers of History by Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
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.
