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solitary

American  

[sol-i-ter-ee] / ˈsɒl ɪˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. 

   alone; without companions; unattended.

   a solitary passer-by.

   Synonyms:

   lone

2. living alone; avoiding the society of others.

   a solitary existence.

3. by itself; alone.

   one solitary house.

4. characterized by the absence of companions.

   a solitary journey.

5. done without assistance or accompaniment; done in solitude.

   solitary chores.

6. being the only one.

   a solitary exception.

7. characterized by solitude, as a place; unfrequented, secluded, or lonely.

   a solitary cabin in the woods.

   Synonyms:

   remote, retired, isolated

8. Zoology. living habitually alone or in pairs, as certain wasps.

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noun

• solitaries
  plural

1. a person who lives alone or in solitude, or avoids the society of others.

   Synonyms:

   recluse, hermit

2. a person who lives in solitude from religious motives.

   Synonyms:

   eremite, recluse, hermit

3. solitary confinement.

solitary British  

/ ˈsɒlɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. following or enjoying a life of solitude

   a solitary disposition

2. experienced or performed alone

   a solitary walk

3. (of a place) unfrequented

4. (prenominal) single; sole

   a solitary speck in the sky

5. having few companions; lonely

6. (of animals) not living in organized colonies or large groups Compare social gregarious

   solitary bees

   a solitary elephant

7. (of flowers) growing singly

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noun

1. a person who lives in seclusion; hermit; recluse

2. informal short for solitary confinement

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• solitariness
  noun
• unsolitary
  adjective
• solitarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• solitaries
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of solitary

1300–50; Middle English < Latin sōlitārius alone, by itself, solitary, equivalent to sōlit ( ās ) solitude ( sōl ( us ) sole ¹ + -itās -ity ) + -ārius -ary

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Explanation

If you're a lone wolf, a one-man band, a rugged individualist, or an island unto yourself, you prefer to be solitary — in other words, alone or single. The term can be used to describe a person, a place, or a thing. Solitary comes to us from the Latin solus, which means alone. Note its similarity to words like solo and, for all you card players out there, solitaire. You can take a solitary walk, during which you don't utter a solitary word, but pause to admire a solitary green shoot peeping through the snow. Solitary is also common in the prison world: Inmates on Alcatraz who were deemed too dangerous to mingle with their fellows were put in solitary confinement cells.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

solitary solitaries

But that gap had shrunk to a solitary point by the time the drivers lined up for the last of 17 stages, bringing back painful memories of previous narrow misses for Evans.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

"He really speaks very little, he's very withdrawn, very shy, off in his corner... he's a very solitary person," Saint-Eloi told AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026

The process of songwriting, rather than being a solitary slog, is a collective joy, rapturously captured in the number “Write a Way.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

He typically records alone—This Is Lorelei is his solo project—and a feeling of solitary contemplation permeates his music.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

In many ways she was as cool and competent as Henry; tough-minded and solitary in her habits, and in many ways as aloof.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

It is his conversations with fellow city solitaries that unveil smaller revelations, and Saramago casts the transformation of his protagonist in existential terms as Senhor José’s search becomes a project in itself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Like everything these days, hermits exist on a wide spectrum and prefer a variety of identifiers: lovers of solitude, solitaries, contemplatives.

From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2020

But I found out about a newsletter run by a couple in the Carolinas aimed at solitaries and, after posting an ad there, began writing to a few.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 6, 2017

It’s the solitaries who interest her, the lurkers at the fringes.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 12, 2011

Among the most curious and not the least interesting of the works of this class are the memoirs of Pontis—one of the famous solitaries of Port Royal in his old age.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

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Related Words

• lone
• lonely
• singular

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