solitary

1 of 2

adjective

sol·​i·​tary ˈsä-lə-ˌter-ē 

1

a

: being, living, or going alone or without companions

b

: saddened by isolation

2

: unfrequented, desolate

a solitary seashore

3

a

: taken, passed, or performed without companions

a solitary ramble

b

: keeping a prisoner apart from others

solitary confinement

4

: being at once single and isolated

a solitary example

5

a

: occurring singly and not as part of a group or cluster

flowers terminal and solitary

b

: not gregarious, colonial, social, or compound

solitary bees

solitarily

ˌsä-lə-ˈter-ə-lē 

adverb

solitariness

ˈsä-lə-ˌter-ē-nəs 

noun

solitary

2 of 2

noun

plural solitaries

1

: one who lives or seeks to live a solitary life : recluse

2

: solitary confinement in prison

put him in solitary

Synonyms

Adjective

• alone
• lone
• one
• one-off
• only
• singular
• sole
• special
• sui generis
• unique

Noun

• anchorite
• eremite
• hermit
• isolate
• recluse

Choose the Right Synonym for solitary

alone, solitary, lonely, lonesome, lone, forlorn, desolate mean isolated from others.

alone stresses the objective fact of being by oneself with slighter notion of emotional involvement than most of the remaining terms.

everyone needs to be alone sometimes

solitary may indicate isolation as a chosen course

glorying in the calm of her solitary life

but more often it suggests sadness and a sense of loss.

left solitary by the death of his wife

lonely adds to solitary a suggestion of longing for companionship.

felt lonely and forsaken

lonesome heightens the suggestion of sadness and poignancy.

an only child often leads a lonesome life

lone may replace lonely or lonesome but typically is as objective as alone.

a lone robin pecking at the lawn

forlorn stresses dejection, woe, and listlessness at separation from one held dear.

a forlorn lost child

desolate implies inconsolable grief at loss or bereavement.

desolate after her brother's death

Examples of solitary in a Sentence

Adjective

He took a solitary walk on the beach.

A solitary house stood on top of the cliff.

Most cats are solitary creatures.

He's a very solitary man.

Noun

The prisoner was kept in solitary.

weary of European civilization, the painter Paul Gauguin famously abandoned France to become a solitary in the South Seas

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Again the solitary loss here, against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, was understandable, even if the poor performance was not. —Simon Johnson, New York Times, 2 May 2025

In the spring of 2022, Williams was uprooted from his solitary world and transferred to a prison in San Diego County. —Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025

Noun

However, Local Law 42, the law limiting solitary, requires 14 hours per day of out-of-cell time. —Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2025

Sweat was then confined to 23-hour-a-day solitary at Five Points Correctional Center, though he was subsequently transferred to Attica Correctional after trying to bribe Five Points officials. —Kenny Herzog, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, solitarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin solitarius, from solitas aloneness, from solus alone

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing solitary

• solitary confinement

Rhymes for solitary

• accessary
• adversary
• ancillary
• arbitrary
• aviary
• axillary
• beriberi
• breviary
• budgetary
• capillary
• catenary
• cautionary

Kids Definition

solitary

1 of 2 adjective

sol·​i·​tary ˈsäl-ə-ˌter-ē 

1

: all alone

a solitary traveler

2

: seldom visited : lonely

3

: being the only one : sole

solitary example

4

: growing or living alone : not forming part of a group or cluster

flowers at the end of the stalk and solitary

the solitary wasps

solitarily

ˌsäl-ə-ˈter-ə-lē

adverb

solitariness

ˈsäl-ə-ˌter-ē-nəs

noun

solitary

2 of 2 noun

plural solitaries

: one who lives or seeks to live a solitary life : recluse, hermit

Medical Definition

solitary

adjective

sol·​i·​tary ˈsäl-ə-ˌter-ē 

: occurring singly and not as part of a group

a solitary lesion