solitary
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About Our Definitions: All forms of a word (noun, verb, etc.) are now displayed on one page.1sol·i·tary
adjective \ˈsä-lə-ˌter-ē\Definition of SOLITARY
1
a : being, living, or going alone or without companions b : saddened by isolation
2
: unfrequented, desolate <a solitary seashore>
3
a : taken, passed, or performed without companions <a solitary ramble> b : keeping a prisoner apart from others <solitary confinement>
4
: being at once single and isolated <a solitary example>
5
a : occurring singly and not as part of a group or cluster <flowers terminal and solitary> b : not gregarious, colonial, social, or compound <solitary bees>
— sol·i·tar·i·ly \ˌsä-lə-ˈter-ə-lē\ adverb
— sol·i·tar·i·ness \ˈsä-lə-ˌter-ē-nəs\ noun
See Examples of SOLITARY
- He took a solitary walk on the beach.
- A solitary house stood on top of the cliff.
- Most cats are solitary creatures.
- He's a very solitary man.
Origin of SOLITARY
Middle English, solitarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin solitarius, from solitas aloneness, from solus alone
First Known Use: 14th century
Related to SOLITARY
Rhymes with SOLITARY
actuary, adversary, airy-fairy, ancillary, antiquary, apiary, arbitrary, aviary, axillary, bacillary, beriberi, bestiary, biliary, black raspberry, Bloody Mary, boysenberry, breviary, budgetary, calamari, calamary, candleberry, Canterbury, capillary, carpellary, cassowary, catenary, cautionary, cavitary, cemetery, centenary, certiorari, checkerberry, chinaberry, cometary, commentary, commissary, condottiere, coralberry, corollary, coronary, culinary, customary, dictionary, dietary, dignitary, dromedary, dysentery, elderberry, emissary, estuary, farkleberry, February, formulary, fragmentary, fritillary, functionary, funerary, honorary, huckleberry, intermarry, janissary, January, lamasery, lapidary, lectionary, legendary, legionary, lingonberry, literary, loganberry, luminary, mammillary, mandatary, maxillary, medullary, mercenary, miliary, military, millenary, milliary, millinery, missionary, momentary, monastery, mortuary, necessary, ordinary, ossuary, partridgeberry, pensionary, pigmentary, planetary, Pondicherry, prebendary, presbytery, pulmonary, quaternary, red mulberry, reliquary, rowanberry, salivary, salmonberry, salutary, sanctuary, sanguinary, sanitary, secondary, secretary, sedentary, seminary, silverberry, sour cherry, stationary, stationery, statuary, subcontrary, sublunary, sugarberry, sumptuary, syllabary, temporary, tertiary, thimbleberry, Tipperary, Tom and Jerry, topiary, tributary, tutelary, Typhoid Mary, unitary, urinary, vestiary, Virgin Mary, visionary, voluntary, vulnerary, Waterbury, whortleberry, winterberry
2solitary
noun plural solitar·ies
Definition of SOLITARY
1
: one who lives or seeks to live a solitary life : recluse
2
: solitary confinement in prison <put him in solitary>
Examples of SOLITARY
- The prisoner was kept in solitary.
- <weary of European civilization, the painter Paul Gauguin famously abandoned France to become a solitary in the South Seas>
First Known Use of SOLITARY
15th century
sol·i·tary
adjective \ˈsäl-ə-ˌter-ē\ (Medical Dictionary)Medical Definition of SOLITARY
: occurring singly and not as part of a group <a solitary lesion>
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