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
  • Switzerland imagines Highsmith as a recluse in the Alps, closely guarding a cache of weapons and secrets after a lifetime spent writing mysteries.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Meanwhile, the aging bachelor lived as something of a recluse in the Independence mansion occupied by multiple other relatives and in-laws.
    — Dan Kelly August 22, Kansas City Star, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of recluse
Noun
  • This comes after a partial glacier collapse in the Himalayan mountains unleashed a sudden surge of water, mud, and debris that swept through border crossings, valley communities, and hydropower projects on August 26.
    — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Temperatures in some parts of the coast and nearby valleys could drop 4 to 8 degrees Thursday, while only dropping a degree or two in the mountains and foothills, the Weather Service’s Oxnard office said.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of valley
Noun
  • 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
  • The area was also chosen by artistic hermit squatters, known as Dunnites, who lived around nearby Oceano and Nipomo in the 1930s.
    — Michael Goldstein, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
Definition of hermit
Noun
  • The pasta—a hair clump of noodles in a soupy, sweetish tomato sauce—came in one of those parsimonious bowls with a small hollow in the middle and a rim as broad as Saturn’s rings.
    — Ruby Tandoh, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Mosses and lichens filled the hollows, while yellowish dead man’s fingers — a spooky and thus aptly named fungus — curled among low-growing rhododendrons that perfumed the air with warm, woody notes.
    — Denise Hruby, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 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
  • Natural Beauty Beauty is born from nature in Greece due to an incredibly diverse landscape replete with everything from mountains, lakes, forests, and caves to craters, coasts, gorges, and volcanoes.
    — Jennifer Tzeses, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Picture show The bridge-building nonprofit Fika is connecting communities in Rwanda separated by rivers and gorges.
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of gorge
Noun
  • 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
  • Set in the modern Scottish Highlands, Laird is an epic family saga in which a proud Scot defies a shadowy American billionaire hellbent on buying up the glens.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 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 14 Sep. 2026.

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