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 of loner

• maverick
• bohemian
• individualist
• eccentric

Examples of loner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Directed by Lynne Ramsay, the movie follows Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), an introverted loner who rescues women who find themselves in precarious positions. —Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Feb. 2026

Thompson plays a grieving loner who gets lost near a Minnesota lake during a blizzard and stumbles on a cabin where a young woman is being held by an armed couple. —ABC News, 13 Feb. 2026

Released on February 6, the video sees Swift playing a loner in the '90s who is (checks notes) in love with a rock. —Meg Walters, InStyle, 6 Feb. 2026

Seated in the same car, directly across from two of the teenagers, was a white loner named Bernie Goetz. —Heather Ann Thompson, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026

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