solitary

Intermediatezipf 3.73

Pronunciation

/ˈsɒlɪtəri/(SOL-ih-ter-ee)

Part of speech

adjective / nounneutral

Chinese

独居的；孤独的；单个的（独自一人进行的，或只有一个的）

Definition

Done or existing alone; without companions; (noun) solitary confinement.

Word family

  • solitude/ˈsɒlɪtjuːd/(n)独处
  • solitarily/ˈsɒlɪtərɪli/(adv)孤独地

Collocations

  • solitary life
  • solitary figure
  • solitary confinement
  • solitary walk
  • solitary exception

Examples

  1. 1.He preferred a solitary walk each morning before the day's meetings began. (alone by choice)
  2. 2.The investigation found a solitary case where the procedure had been correctly followed. (single instance)

Synonyms

  • alone/əˈləʊn/— simply without others; no emotional implication
  • isolated/ˈaɪsəleɪtɪd/— cut off from others
  • reclusive/rɪˈkluːsɪv/— choosing to avoid people

Etymology

from Latin "solitarius" = alone, from "solus" = alone