Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Solitude
1.
state of being alone, or withdrawn from society; a lonely life; loneliness.
Whosoever is delighted with
solitude
is either a wild beast or a god. Bacon.
O
That sages have seen in thy face?
Solitude
! where are the charmsThat sages have seen in thy face?
Cowper.
2.
Remoteness from society; destitution of company; seclusion; – said of places;
as, the
. solitude
of a woodThe
solitude
of his little parish is become matter of great comfort to him. Law.
3.
solitary or lonely place; a desert or wilderness.
In these deep
Where heavenly pensive contemplation dwells.
solitudes
and awful cellsWhere heavenly pensive contemplation dwells.
Pope.
Syn. Loneliness; soitariness; loneness; retiredness; recluseness. –
Solitude
, Retirement
, Seclusion
, Loneliness
.
Retirement is a withdrawal from general society, implying that a person has been engaged in its scenes. Solitude describes the fact that a person is alone; seclusion, that he is shut out from others, usually by his own choice; loneliness, that he feels the pain and oppression of being alone. Hence, retirement is opposed to a gay, active, or public life; solitude, to society; seclusion, to freedom of access on the part of others; and loneliness, enjoyment of that society which the heart demands.
O blest
retirement
, friend to life’s decline. Goldsmith.
Such only can enjoy the country who are capable of thinking when they are there; then they are prepared for
solitude
; and in that [the country] solitude
is prepared for them. Dryden.
It is a place of
seclusion
from the external world. Bp. Horsley.
These evils . . . seem likely to reduce it [a city] ere long to the
loneliness
and the insignificance of a village. Eustace.
Webster 1828 Edition
Solitude
SOL'ITUDE
,Noun.
1.
Loneliness; a state of being alone; a lonely life. Whoever is delighted with solitude, is either a wild beast or a god.2.
Loneliness; remote ness from society; as the solitude of a wood or a valley; the solitude of the country. The solitude of his little parish is become matter of great comfort to him.3.
A lonely place; a desert. In these deep solitudes and awful cells, where heavenly-pensive contemplation dwells.Definition 2025
solitude
solitude
English
Noun
solitude (countable and uncountable, plural solitudes)
- Aloneness; state of being alone or solitary, by oneself.
- A lonely or deserted place.
- 1813, Lord Byron, Bride of Abydos, Canto 2, stanza 20:
- Mark where his carnage and his conquests cease!
He makes a solitude, and calls it — peace.
- Mark where his carnage and his conquests cease!
- 1813, Lord Byron, Bride of Abydos, Canto 2, stanza 20:
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
state of being alone
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