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
It’s a different world here in Santa Cruz, an easier place to seclude yourself, to find some anonymity.
From New York Times ● Jun. 26, 2018
It sells anonymous offshore companies that help the owners seclude their business dealings.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2017
I had never done any thing to seclude me from an Establishment in my own Country.
In a statement posted on Instagram, the couple confirmed that Umar Kremlev paid for two nights of post-wedding events that took place on secluded Bahamian islands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
On Sunday, the infant swimming resource instructor was swimming along the east shore at Hidden Beach, a secluded public beach within Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park, she posted on social media.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
MALÉ, Maldives—The white sand beaches, turquoise waters and secluded luxury resorts of this South Asian archipelago attract millions of tourists each year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
White Bay Cay spans around 25 acres, while the adjacent island adds another seven acres to Perry’s secluded escape.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Soon, I found myself at a secluded area north of the Court of Honor, a wooded island carved from the lakeside, lush with gardens, dense foliage, and manmade streams.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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
Others with in-the-clear test results and drippy noses say they are still secluding or masking even at home until the sneezing stops — just in case.
From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2021
Carl Leibert had stopped secluding himself in his quarters; he still talked rapturously about the miracles Merlin would work, but now and then Conn saw him when he thought he was unobserved.
From The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper
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.
