loner

noun

lon·​er ˈlō-nər 

1

: one that avoids others: such as

a

: a person who is often alone or likes to be alone : someone who usually avoids the company of others

He is a moody loner who doesn't become chummy with anyone.

—Sam Moses

Many rowers will agree that sculling is a sport for loners who relish the more quixotic elements of the sport.

—D. C. Churbuck

… she found that the image of the scientist as an antisocial loner is a myth …

—Warren E. Leary

b

: a typically solitary animal

Black bears are loners and usually wander by themselves in search of food.

—Mark Carwardine

Despite the fact they are loners, cats do have a well-organized social system based on scent marks and mutual avoidance.

—Fiona Sunquist

2

: individualist sense 1

Synonyms

• maverick
• bohemian
• individualist
• eccentric

Examples of loner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The musical isn’t buying into the Elvis mythology of the brooding loner with magnetic sensuality. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 14 July 2025

The Oscar winner takes a cliched role of the disgraced loner and gives a low-key, effective performance, relying on glances not glares to get him over the finish line. —Randy Myers, Mercury News, 25 June 2025

Was she excluded because a happy Alexei-Melina would undercut the film’s selling point involving a band of loners and rejects? —Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 5 May 2025

In 1974, loners obsessed with guns was not yet a profile commonly understood to signal a potential school shooter. —Sally Ventura june 23, Literary Hub, 23 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for loner

• donor
• kroner
• kronor
• owner
• stoner
• toner
• homeowner
• landowner
• shipowner

Kids Definition

loner

noun

lon·​er ˈlō-nər 

: one that avoids others

especially : individualist sense 1