solitary

/ˈsä-lə-ˌter-ē/

Middle English, solitarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin solitarius, from solitas aloneness, from solus alone

adjective

  1. being, living, or going alone or without companions

  2. saddened by isolation

  3. unfrequented, desolate

alone solitary lonely lonesome lone forlorn desolate mean isolated from others. alone stresses the objective fact of being by oneself with slighter notion of emotional involvement than most of the remaining terms. solitary may indicate isolation as a chosen course

noun

  1. one who lives or seeks to live a solitary life : recluse

  2. solitary confinement in prison

noun

  1. the state of being kept alone in a prison cell away from other prisoners

He spent three months in solitary confinement.