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
Sam MosesMany rowers will agree that sculling is a sport for loners who relish the more quixotic elements of the sport.—D. C. Churbuck
D. C. Churbuck… she found that the image of the scientist as an antisocial loner is a myth …—Warren E. Leary
Warren E. Leary
b
: a typically solitary animal
Black bears are loners and usually wander by themselves in search of food.—Mark Carwardine
Mark CarwardineDespite the fact they are loners, cats do have a well-organized social system based on scent marks and mutual avoidance.—Fiona Sunquist
Fiona SunquistExamples of loner in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
What resulted is an unlikely team-up of MCU loners and rejects — including Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 1 May 2025
Yes, Joel — the beloved hunky loner, who drove much of Season 1, and became a father-figure to Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who must now lead Season 2 — is gone.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2025
Nova is a very smart girl and, like Buffy, a loner.
—Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
Actually, everyone in the movie talks that way, but Brendan is still an outsider, a moody loner who cares more about cracking the case of his missing ex-girlfriend than fitting in at school.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for loner
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Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 1 May 2025
Yes, Joel — the beloved hunky loner, who drove much of Season 1, and became a father-figure to Ellie (Bella Ramsey), who must now lead Season 2 — is gone.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 21 Apr. 2025
Nova is a very smart girl and, like Buffy, a loner.
—Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Mar. 2025
Actually, everyone in the movie talks that way, but Brendan is still an outsider, a moody loner who cares more about cracking the case of his missing ex-girlfriend than fitting in at school.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 3 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for loner
Cite this Entry
“Loner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loner. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
loner
noun
lon·er
ˈlō-nər 
: one that avoids others
especially
: individualist sense 1
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