YOUR VOCABULARY, ONE WORD AT A TIME

reclusive

Adjective

IPA /rɪˈkluːsɪv/

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Meaning in plain English

Living privately and avoiding contact with other people.

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Pronunciation

reclusive/rɪˈkluːsɪv/

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Regular contact and social events
A private life with little social contact

A reclusive person tends to live privately and avoid contact with others.

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The reclusive novelist rarely attended public events.
Her biography examines the artist's increasingly reclusive lifestyle.

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The ________ novelist rarely attended public events.

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reclusive — Living privately and avoiding contact with other people.

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Living privately and avoiding contact with other people.

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Word origin

Formed from recluse and -ive; recluse ultimately comes from Latin words for being shut away.

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Reclusive writer and reclusive lifestyle describe withdrawal from social contact.

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