as in bohemians
a person who does not conform to generally accepted standards or customs
that guy in tech support is a loner, and never wants to hang out with the rest of us
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of loners
Vimes and Weatherwax are clever, wary loners who can’t stop themselves from doing what is right instead of what is easy.
—
Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
The consequences of it are the loners who go off and do mass shootings.
—Mac Engel
april 20, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2026
Several characters, including a group of popular girls who finally invite the boys — admitted loners — to a party, look directly into the camera.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026
In Sarah Hall’s great blast of a novel, characters across time and circumstance – scientists, visionaries, loners, and wanderers – face the blustery Cumbrian wind called Helm.
—Monitor Reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov. 2025
The community-centric atmosphere of today’s climbing gyms signals a departure from the sensibility of bygone eras, when climbers styled themselves as misfits and loners set apart from society at-large.
—Kelli María Korducki, HubSpot, 17 Oct. 2025
The fleeting but fulfilling chance encounter between the two young loners has the air of a meet-cute tale, and there’s certainly a romantic feel to how their situation develops.
—Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2025
And stuff each song with lyrics about '20s-generation malaise and deranged loners?
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 24 May 2026
The consequences of it are the loners who go off and do mass shootings.
—Mac Engel
april 20, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2026
Several characters, including a group of popular girls who finally invite the boys — admitted loners — to a party, look directly into the camera.
—Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026
In Sarah Hall’s great blast of a novel, characters across time and circumstance – scientists, visionaries, loners, and wanderers – face the blustery Cumbrian wind called Helm.
—Monitor Reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov. 2025
The community-centric atmosphere of today’s climbing gyms signals a departure from the sensibility of bygone eras, when climbers styled themselves as misfits and loners set apart from society at-large.
—Kelli María Korducki, HubSpot, 17 Oct. 2025
The fleeting but fulfilling chance encounter between the two young loners has the air of a meet-cute tale, and there’s certainly a romantic feel to how their situation develops.
—Josh Slater-Williams, IndieWire, 17 Aug. 2025
And stuff each song with lyrics about '20s-generation malaise and deranged loners?
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for loners
Noun
-
Carl Anka Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England career is a fascinating case study in why team sports can prefer the orthodox to the mavericks.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
13 May 2026
-
The confluence at Black Mountain of émigré artists like Josef and Anni Albers with homegrown mavericks like John Cage and Buckminster Fuller (who constructed his first geodesic dome there) marked an early flowering of this mode of learning, which was still in fine health decades later.—
Christopher Benfey,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The forty-niners are elemental to our identity as a nation of brave, rugged individualists.—
Jennifer Wilson,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Based on actual events, Eden features a starry cast playing a disparate group of rugged individualists who all find themselves in the Galapagos in the early 20th century, each abandoning society in the hopes of creating a utopia.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
22 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Loners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/loners. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
