Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person who withdraws from the world to live in seclusion and often in solitude.
- adj. Withdrawn from the world; reclusive.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Shut up or apart from the world; retired from public notice; sequestered; solitary; existing or passed in a solitary state: as, a recluse monk or hermit; a recluse life.
- n. A person who withdraws from the world to spend his days in seclusion and meditation; specifically, a member of a religious community who is voluntarily immured for life in a single cell. The life of a monastic recluse was a privilege accorded only to those of exceptional virtue, and only by express permission of the abbot, chapter, and bishop. In earlier monasticism, the recluse was immured in a cell, sometimes underground, and usually within the precincts of the monastery. He was to have no other apparel than that which he wore at the time of his incarceration. The doorway to the cell was walled up, and only a sufficient aperture was left for the conveyance of provisions, but so contrived as not to allow the recluse to see or be seen, Later monasticism greatly modified this rigor.
- n. A place of seclusion; a retired or quiet situation; a hermitage, convent, or the like.
- To shut up; seclude; withdraw from intercourse.
Wiktionary
- adj. Sequestered; secluded, isolated.
- adj. Hidden, secret.
- n. A person who lives in self-imposed isolation or seclusion from the world, especially for religious purposes; a hermit.
- n. The place where a recluse dwells; a place of isolation or seclusion.
- n. A brown recluse (spider.)
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Shut up, sequestered; retired from the world or from public notice; solitary; living apart
- n. A person who lives in seclusion from intercourse with the world, as a hermit or monk; specifically, one of a class of secluded devotees who live in single cells, usually attached to monasteries.
- n. The place where a recluse dwells.
- v. To shut up; to seclude.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. withdrawn from society; seeking solitude
- n. one who lives in solitude
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French reclus, from Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere, to shut up : re-, re- + claudere, to close.
Examples
“In He Who Fears the Wolf (Harcourt), the latest installment of this Norwegian series to be published in America, a young schizophrenic escapes from a mental institution and heads for the forest, where an old recluse is later found murdered.”
“It was not until after our arrival at Tampico that I had the mortification to discover that the interesting creature, the charming recluse, is seventy-eight, and has just buried her seventh husband!”
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country
“The Duchess of Kent has withdrawn from public life to such an extent that she is often described as a recluse, but her son Lord Nicholas Windsor is determined to speak out over causes that he believes in.”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“No need to be "disturbed", not sure why I used the word recluse, but you're right it was the wrong term to use.”
“A sidekick, the antagonist, whatever - if they’re not the central focus of the story, they must still play an important role (the reporter later discovers the enigmatic recluse is really a costumed vigilante, and now must decide what to do with that knowledge).”
“Joon-ho Bong's story of a recluse is the best of the three by some lengths.”
“One of the things about it, it's called a recluse spider because it typically comes out in the dark or at night.”
“Without a woman, man's life was pitiful — the life of the recluse was a proof of that.”
“Though she hasn't made a film in 30 years and is often described as a recluse, Bardot, now 68, never really exits the spotlight here.”
“In his circle of business acquaintances the financier was well known as a recluse, although not one of those upright men of commerce would have suspected him to be involved with anyone who had the outlaw reputation that Gun Moll and her associates bore.”
Angel With No Hands
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘recluse’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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-clud-, -clus-
closed; shut
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