solitude

sol·i·tude

noun \ˈsä-lə-ˌtüd, -ˌtyüd\

Definition of SOLITUDE

1

: the quality or state of being alone or remote from society : seclusion

2

: a lonely place (as a desert)

Examples of SOLITUDE

1. She wished to work on her novel in solitude.
2. He enjoyed the peace and solitude of the woods.

Origin of SOLITUDE

Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, from Latin solitudin-, solitudo, from solus

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to SOLITUDE

Synonyms

aloneness, insulation, privacy, secludedness, seclusion, segregation, separateness, sequestration, solitariness, isolation

Related Words

loneliness, lonesomeness; vacuum; confinement, incarceration, internment, quarantine; retirement, withdrawal; ghettoization

Near Antonyms

camaraderie, companionship, company, comradeship, fellowship, society

Synonym Discussion of SOLITUDE

solitude, isolation, seclusion mean the state of one who is alone. solitude may imply a condition of being apart from all human beings or of being cut off by wish or circumstances from one's usual associates <a few quiet hours of solitude>. isolation stresses detachment from others often involuntarily <the isolation of the village in winter>. seclusion suggests a shutting away or keeping apart from others often connoting deliberate withdrawal from the world or retirement to a quiet life <lived in pastoral seclusion>.

Rhymes with SOLITUDE

altitude, amplitude, aptitude, attitude, certitude, comfort food, consuetude, crassitude, desuetude, finger food, finitude, fortitude, gratitude, habitude, hebetude, interlude, lassitude, latitude, longitude, magnitude, mansuetude, multitude, negritude, platitude, plenitude, promptitude, pulchritude, quietude, rectitude, seminude, servitude, turpitude, vastitude