isolate
Americanverb (used with object)
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isolates,
present (3rd person singular)
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isolated,
past participle, past
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isolating
present participle
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to set or place apart; detach or separate so as to be alone.
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Medicine/Medical. to keep (an infected person) from contact with noninfected persons; quarantine.
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Chemistry, Bacteriology. to obtain (a substance or microorganism) in an uncombined or pure state.
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Electricity. to insulate.
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Television. to single out (a person, action, etc.) for a camera closeup.
noun
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a person, thing, or group that is set apart or isolated, as for purposes of study.
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Psychology. a person, often shy or lacking in social skills, who avoids the company of others and has no friends within a group.
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Biology. an inbreeding population that is isolated from similar populations by physiological, behavioral, or geographic barriers.
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Also called language isolate. Linguistics. a language with no demonstrable genetic relationship, as Basque.
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something that has been isolated, as a by-product in a manufacturing process.
an isolate of soy flour.
adjective
verb
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to place apart; cause to be alone
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med to quarantine (a person or animal) having or suspected of having a contagious disease
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to obtain (a compound) in an uncombined form
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to obtain pure cultures of (bacteria, esp those causing a particular disease)
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electronics to prevent interaction between (circuits, components, etc); insulate
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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isolabilitynoun
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isolatornoun
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reisolateverb (used with object)
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unisolateverb (used with object)
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isolableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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isolatesimple
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isolatessimple
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have isolatedperfect
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has isolatedperfect
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am isolatingprogressive
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are isolatingprogressive
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is isolatingprogressive
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have been isolatingperfect progressive
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has been isolatingperfect progressive
Past
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isolatedsimple
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had isolatedperfect
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was isolatingprogressive
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were isolatingprogressive
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had been isolatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of isolate
First recorded in 1800–10; back formation from isolated
Explanation
When you remove or set apart one thing from others, you isolate it. You could isolate yourself from people by living in a remote hut or, if you're a biologist, you could isolate a chromosome. The verb isolate comes from the adjective isolated, which comes from the Latin insulatas, meaning “made into an island.” You may have heard the John Donne quote, “No man is an island.” Donne was claiming that no matter how much you might try to isolate yourself from the rest of humanity, in the end people are all connected to one another. Humanity’s need for connectedness may, in fact, be illustrated by the fact that jailers frequently isolate criminals as punishment.
Vocabulary lists containing isolate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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List 15
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Vocabulary from "Community is the 'killer app' missing from virtual reality" by Dmitri Williams
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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:
Dresser wanted a Dutch door — one where both the top and bottom halves swing open independently — attached to their office space, where they sometimes isolate fosters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Hernandez's parents allege that these people "enabled Burke to isolate" Rivas Hernandez and facilitated his travel, housing and security.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. is launching a new campaign to isolate the Iranian regime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is aiming to isolate Tehran further from the global financial system.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
I isolate a piece of waffle and sink my fork in.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
While Mr. Graham-Dixon isolates the technical from the theological, Mr. Weber integrated the “optical and iconographic” aspects of Vermeer’s life and work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
By operating as a separate entity, GenCo isolates the cost of new growth to data centers, according to NiSource.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
The latest research isolates the role of CSE itself.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2026
“The Outrun” was shot in 2022 in London and the Orkney Islands, including the remote community of Papay, where Rona isolates herself in a cottage in the middle of winter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
This is how he isolates the true impact of that single switch on the sprawling circuit board.
From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt
Importantly, this investigation tested commercial sucralose rather than directly repeating the 2023 experiments with isolated sucralose-6-acetate.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
Extremely isolated, totalitarian North Korea is a militarised and heavily indoctrinated state.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
When the prisons close, the guards transfer to new locations or retire and leave the rural, geographically isolated area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
It has in the past blamed individual employees for isolated attempts to obtain other companies’ technology, according to court filings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
It was normal, then, that he should be missed, even mourned—for it’s a hard thing when someone dies at a school like Hampden, where we were all so isolated, and thrown so much together.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
He described the months since the complaint became public as “painful” and isolating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
For some it can be an isolating experience.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The setup made it possible to recreate extreme conditions that ordinary solid materials cannot reach while isolating the effects of particle collisions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
The incidents show that the AI companies need to have stronger, industrywide standards for isolating their systems during cyber testing, said Alex Stamos, chief product officer with the cybersecurity company Corridor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Both involved quarantines—the practice of isolating someone with a highly infectious disease from the healthy population.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
