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:
Gore and Bush were able to seclude themselves at home, refraining from public comment for days on end.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 5, 2020
“I realised that if I was able to seclude myself and rest, the gentle high would progress into a dreamlike state where I would experience visions,” she writes in Period Power.
From The Guardian ● May 29, 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
How I envy men who can seclude themselves like this within an hour's sail from a city!
From A Modern Buccaneer by Rolf Boldrewood
On Martha’s Vineyard, “beach keys” are the ultimate status symbol, giving affluent property owners entry to secluded stretches of sand that are off-limits to the masses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 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
Rather than simply creating a secluded vacation home, DiCaprio set his sights on turning the undeveloped island into an environmentally conscious luxury resort.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
West Africa poses numerous attractive benefits to Mexican syndicates, starting with swathes of forested land which makes well for secluded production sites.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
It was a secluded location, tucked away in a hidden curve of a walking trail.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
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
They might be secluding themselves on Instagram or LinkedIn, or experimenting with the visual anarchy of TikTok.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 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
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 John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
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.
