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shut-in

noun

Definition of shut-innext
1
as in recluse

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Dissimilar Words
2
as in valley

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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 shut-in Production shut-ins Brent crude futures could climb to $135 per barrel if the current situation persists for four months, according to Janiv Shah, vice president of oil markets at Rystad Energy. — Sam Meredith, CNBC, 9 Mar. 2026 Her brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), is an agoraphobic shut-in failing to confront his mounting mental-health crises. — David Sims, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025 That means overcoming Ella’s hostility and bridging the divide with her uncommunicative kid brother Casey (Spike Fearn), an MIT graduate who has become an agoraphobic shut-in since his breakup with beloved girlfriend Susan (Ayo Edebiri). — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 Dec. 2025 By visiting with the sick and shut-in, helping the bereaved, ministering to the incarcerated, always being willing to open the doors of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church to more people, teaching theology to other pastors and more, Thornhill was a pastor. — Sophia Tiedge, jsonline.com, 11 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for shut-in
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shut-in
  1. recluse
  2. valley
  3. hermit
  4. hollow
  5. homebody
  6. vale
  7. gorge
  8. glen
Noun
  • However, the brown recluse and black widow spiders do have dangerous venom.
    — Rashad Alexander, Kansas City Star, 23 Sep. 2026
  • And over the years, this utopian town, which at the beginning looked great, has completely crumbled into a world of recluses and hoarders.
    — Elisabeth Garber-Paul, Rolling Stone, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of recluse
Noun
  • The brain’s surface has ridges and valleys, and CTE tangles are found in the depths of those valleys, called the cortical sulci, and surround blood vessels.
    — Alexandra Pattillo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Everything was briefly silent, and then the valley filled with the white noise of rolling tires.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of valley
Noun
  • In this hilltop beyond the realm of agriculture, the hermit has installed himself, wearing goatskins and stinking of musk.
    — Max Norman, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Late in the novel, Noa, Nicole, and their newfound compatriots get into a van with a group of musical hermits who have fled to the mountains to escape the violence of Ecuadorian society.
    — Robert Rubsam, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of hermit
Noun
  • As long as you nestle each new layer into the hollows below, either method will ultimately lead to a version of the same structure, with a density of about 74 percent.
    — Jack Murtagh, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Arcadia Valley Missouri The hills, hollows, caves, and springs of the Missouri Ozarks all promise great fall drives.
    — Hannah Agran, Midwest Living, 12 Sep. 2026
Definition of hollow
Noun
  • Carle is more of a homebody, sticking closer to Sierra Chincua and often staying in its forests.
    — Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026
  • Powering these devices — along with air-conditioning units that are running more thanks homebodies — has also gotten more expensive.
    — Alex Harring, CNBC, 11 July 2026
Definition of homebody
Noun
  • Her journey takes her to the soirées of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District, all in search of independence, self-love and reinvention.
    — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 2 Apr. 2026
  • But Mary’s journey takes her far beyond that familiar estate — to the soirées of Regency London and the peaks and vales of the Lake District, all in search of independence, self-love and reinvention.
    — Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2026
Definition of vale
Noun
  • In one sequence, Sam stands in the middle of a rope bridge, catching a gold bar thrown at him from one side of a gorge, and then throwing it to the other side quickly enough that the weight of the gold doesn’t snap the precarious wooden planks.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026
  • The area is at the bottom of the national park in the inner gorge of the canyon, about 10 miles downstream from Phantom Ranch.
    — Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of gorge
Noun
  • Set in the modern Scottish Highlands, Laird is an epic family saga in which a proud Scot defies a shadowy American billionaire (Sarsgaard) hellbent on buying up the glens.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The series will follow a local estate owner, the Laird of Castle Drummoch (Branagh), who challenges the ambitions of an American billionaire intent on buying up large swaths of the glens.
    — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026
Definition of glen

Browse Nearby Words

shut-eye
shut-in
shut (in or up)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shut-in.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shut-in. Accessed 29 Sep. 2026.

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