recluse

CEFRB2

/ɹɪˈkluːs/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A person who lives alone and avoids other people.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A person who lives in self-imposed isolation or seclusion from the world, especially for religious purposes; a hermit.

Examples

  • There's a brown recluse spider in the attic.

  • Tom is a recluse.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Hidden, secret.

  2. The place where a recluse dwells; a place of isolation or seclusion.

adjective

Extra meaning

  1. Sequestered; secluded, isolated.

More examples

In context

  • a recluse monk or hermit

  • The recluse in the fable kept a cat to keep off the rats, and then a cow to feed the cat with milk, and a man to keep the cow and so on. My ambitions also grew like the family of the recluse.

  • In meditation deep, recluse / From human converse.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The old man who never left his house and refused visitors was a true blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Old French reclus, past participle of reclure, from Latin reclūdere (“to disclose, to open”), from re- + claudō (“close”).