Seclude: Definition, Pronunciation, and Usage

Meaning 1：isolate oneself (seclude)

seclude 🔊

/sɪˈkluːd/

vt.

To keep someone or something apart from others, often to make them alone or private.

Seclude solitude scene person reading alone in cozy room

isolate oneself 🔊

➕

/ˈaɪsəleɪt wʌnˈself/

vt.

To remove or keep someone or something away from others, usually for the purpose of privacy, solitude, or concentration.

📁 Category：Behaviors & Actions 🔖 Level：intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'secludere': 'se-' (apart) + 'cludere' (to shut).

💡 Mnemonic

Picture 'see' + 'clude' (close) — close yourself off so others can't see you.

📖 Example

To finish her painting, the artist decided to seclude herself in a quiet studio for a week. 🔊 To finish her painting, the artist decided to seclude herself in a quiet studio for a week.

🔗 Collocations

seclude oneself from society – to withdraw from social interactions and live in isolation

seclude someone from the world – to keep a person away from worldly affairs

a secluded place – a location that is quiet, private, and away from others

🔄 Synonyms

isolate (vt.) – to place apart or alone, especially from others

sequester (vt.) – to remove or set apart, especially for a specific purpose or in a legal context

segregate (vt.) – to separate or set apart from others or from the main group

🚫 Antonyms

integrate (v.) – to combine or bring together parts into a whole

include (vt.) – to contain as part of a whole, to make part of a group

unite (v.) – to join together, to bring into harmony

🌱 Derivatives

secluded (adj.) – kept apart from others; private and isolated

seclusion (n.) – the state of being private and away from others

seclusively (adv.) – in a manner that suggests seclusion or isolation

📖 Cultural Story

From Latin 'secludere' (shut apart). Common in discussions of artists or thinkers seeking solitude for creativity, e.g., Virginia Woolf's 'a room of one's own'.