rec·luse

(rĕk′lo͞os′, rĭ-klo͞os′)

A person who withdraws from the world to live in seclusion and often in solitude.

adj. re·cluse (rĭ-klo͞os′, rĕk′lo͞os′)

Withdrawn from the world; reclusive.

[Middle English, from Old French reclus, from Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere, to shut up : re-, re- + claudere, to close.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

recluse

(rɪˈkluːs)

1. a person who lives in seclusion

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

adj

solitary; retiring

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

reclusion n

reˈclusive adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rec•luse

(ˈrɛk lus, rɪˈklus)

n.

1. a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society.

adj.

2. reclusive.

re•cluse

[1175–1225; Middle English < Old French reclus < Late Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere to shut in, lock up]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	recluse - one who lives in solitude solitudinarian, troglodyte, hermit, solitary lone hand, lone wolf, loner - a person who avoids the company or assistance of others
Adj.	1.	recluse - withdrawn from society; seeking solitude; "lived an unsocial reclusive life" reclusive, withdrawn unsocial - not seeking or given to association; being or living without companions; "the unsocial disposition to neglect one's neighbors"

recluse

noun hermit, solitary, ascetic, anchoress, monk, anchorite, eremite His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

recluse

adjective

Solitary and shut off from society:

secluded.

Translations

مُنْعَزِل عن النّاس، ناسِك

-kasmolař

eneboer

Einsiedler

reclus

einsetumaîur

eremita recluse solitario

vientuļnieks

samotár

münzevi

隐士

recluse

[rɪˈkluːs] N → solitario/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

recluse

[rɪˈkluːs] n → reclus(e) m/f, ermite m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

recluse

n → Einsiedler(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

recluse

[rɪˈkluːs] n → recluso/a, eremita m

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

recluse

(rəˈkluːs) noun

a person who lives alone and avoids other people.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Macmillan's collected edition of the poet's works, with the first book of The Recluse, now published for the first time, and of an excellent introductory essay by Mr.

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Not only so, but he had withdrawn himself almost altogether from social life and become a recluse. I was told by the village doctor, about the only person with whom he held any relations, that during his retirement he had devoted himself to a single line of study, the result of which he had expounded in a book that did not commend itself to the approval of his professional brethren, who, indeed, considered him not entirely sane.

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Father Sergius lived as a recluse for another seven years.

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Too readily doth the recluse reach his hand to any one who meeteth him.

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It brought some pittance to the miserable penitent from time to time, looked through the hole to see whether he were still living, forgot his name, hardly knew how many years ago he had begun to die, and to the stranger, who questioned them about the living skeleton who was perishing in that cellar, the neighbors replied simply, "It is the recluse."

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As the sky grew less gloomy; indeed, began to grow a little genial, he became still less and less a recluse; as if, when the ship had sailed from home, nothing but the dead wintry bleakness of the sea had then kept him so secluded.

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But a grumpy recluse cannot worry his subordinates: whereas the man in whom the sense of duty is strong (or, perhaps, only the sense of self-importance), and who persists in airing on deck his moroseness all day - and perhaps half the night - becomes a grievous infliction.

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Not with such fervor prays the torpid recluse, looking forward to the cold, sunless, stagnant calm of a day that is to be like innumerable yesterdays.

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But through the remainder of Hester's life there were indications that the recluse of the scarlet letter was the object of love and interest with some inhabitant of another land.

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He went to call indeed; but he was perhaps relieved to be denied admittance; perhaps, in his heart, he preferred to speak with Poole upon the doorstep and surrounded by the air and sounds of the open city, rather than to be admitted into that house of voluntary bondage, and to sit and speak with its inscrutable recluse. Poole had, indeed, no very pleasant news to communicate.

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I must not remain forever a recluse, for similar chances have come my way before.

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A man may have as much wisdom in the possession of an affluent fortune, as any beggar in the streets; or may enjoy a handsome wife or a hearty friend, and still remain as wise as any sour popish recluse, who buries all his social faculties, and starves his belly while he well lashes his back.

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