solitary means living or being by oneself; alone; having no companion present. It carries an Arena rating of 1692, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, solitary ranks #1,839 of 17,123 for Most Malleable Words, #2,355 of 17,116 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,604 of 17,113 for Most Elegant Words, #4,206 of 17,120 for Most Beautiful Words.
solitary is pronounced /ˈsɑlɪˌtɛɹi/.
Why “solitary” is a great word
Describing the state of being by oneself, without companions. From Middle English *solitarie*, borrowed from Latin *sōlitārius*, from *sōlus* ("alone, sole"). Unlike "lonely," which aches with unwanted isolation and the sting of absence, or "reclusive," which carries the deliberate retreat and the life actively shunned, "solitary" is the quiet fact of aloneness, unadorned by judgment or emotion. It is the fisherman on a mist-cloaked shore, lost in the rhythm of the tide; the hermit thrush’s evening call echoing through pine shadows; the single lamp glowing in a high mountain cabin as snow falls without sound—the simple, unforced state of being apart, where silence is not emptiness, but a presence all its own.
Etymology
From Middle English solitarie, borrowed from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitaire.
adj
- Living or being by oneself; alone; having no companion present
- Performed, passed, or endured alone.e.g.“a solitary journey”
- Not much visited or frequented; remote from societye.g.“a solitary residence or place”
- Not inhabited or occupied; without signs of inhabitants or occupation; desolate; desertede.g.“the solitary desert”
- Gloomy; dismal, because of not being inhabited.
- Single; individual; sole.e.g.“a solitary example”
- Not associated with others of the same kind.
noun
- One who lives alone, or in solitude; an anchorite, hermit or recluse.e.g.“He brooded and intrigued fantastically. He was becoming one of the big-time solitaries. And he wasn't meant to be a solitary. He was meant to be in active life, a social creature.”
- The state of being solitary; solitudee.g.“You must wonder why I'm relentless and all strung out/I'm consumed by the chill of solitary”
Words closest in meaning
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