loner

noun

lon·er | \ ˈlō-nər

Definition of loner

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 & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about loner

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Examples of loner in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web With his dazzling smile, charm, cheerfulness and peasant background, Gagarin was picked as the first to fly, over his friend Gherman Titov, who was more cerebral, more of a loner, more independent-minded, the son of a teacher. — Andrew Stuttaford, WSJ, "‘Beyond’ Review: Cold War Cosmonaut," 18 Apr. 2021 Casterline described Adams as a loner, not one to go to clubs or drink alcohol. — New York Times, "The Mystery of Why a Foundering Football Player Killed a Family," 9 Apr. 2021 The talents Sanders exhibited along the way often seemed at odds with his public persona as an uncompromising loner. — Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times, "A new act for Bernie Sanders: Power broker," 15 Mar. 2021 The lesson for a loner like me was in seeing the experience in terms of connecting with others more than simply mastering movement. — James Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, "How an unlikely folk dancer found grace," 19 Mar. 2021 Despite the hardships of living off the grid — from mechanical problems with her van to health issues — Swankie, a loner by nature, found the freedom of the nomadic lifestyle suited her. — Los Angeles Times, "What’s authentic and what’s acting for the real-life nomads of ‘Nomadland’?," 25 Feb. 2021 The boy was a pudgy loner who disliked school and longed in vain for popularity. — Star Tribune, "Rush Limbaugh, talk radio's conservative provocateur, dies at 70," 17 Feb. 2021 As a boy Rush was a pudgy loner who disliked school and longed in vain for popularity. — New York Times, "Rush Limbaugh Dies at 70; Turned Talk Radio Into a Right-Wing Attack Machine," 17 Feb. 2021 Then there was The Drifter, about a gritty cyberpunk loner from the future who came back in time to do battle with an evil corporation, but whose knowledge of things to come caused him to be written off as insane. — Abraham Riesman, Vulture, "Stan Lee and the Dot-Com Disaster," 12 Feb. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'loner.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.