recluse

[rek-loos, ri-kloos, ri-kloos, rek-loos]

noun

1. a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society, often for religious meditation.

2. Also a religious voluntary immured in a cave, hut, or the like, or one remaining within a cell for life.

adjective

1. shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion, often for religious reasons.

2. characterized by seclusion; solitary.

recluse

/ rɪˈkluːʒən, rɪˈkluːs /

noun

1. a person who lives in seclusion

2. a person who lives in solitude to devote himself to prayer and religious meditation; a hermit, anchorite, or anchoress

adjective

1. solitary; retiring

Other Word Forms

• reclusion noun
• reclusive adjective
• nonreclusive adjective
• unrecluse adjective
• unreclusive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of recluse¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French reclus < Late Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere to shut up, equivalent to re- re- + -clūd-, combining form of claudere to close + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s

Word History and Origins

Origin of recluse¹

C13: from Old French reclus , from Late Latin reclūdere to shut away, from Latin _re- + claudere to close

Example Sentences

She spent her teenage years looking after her five siblings and working in a chip shop at the weekends while her mother became a recluse.

From BBC

“He is a recluse who cut off contact with our family and now lives in squalor,” she writes.

From Los Angeles Times

We Americans love our literary losers, and who better to give us the latest version of a recluse with a heart of gold than Walter?

From Los Angeles Times

Family members, former school friends and neighbours have told Swedish media he had become a recluse in recent years and may have suffered with psychological issues.

From BBC

By then, he was living like a recluse in a large derelict home, surrounded by child-sized dolls.

From BBC

Related Words

• hermit