recluse

English · Français · Italiano · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

recluse

/ɹɪˈkluːs/
/ˈɹɛkluːs/
/ɹɪˈklus/ Canada, US
/ˈɹɛklus/ Canada, US
/ɹɪˈklʉːs/ Australia
/ˈɹeklʉːs/ Australia
/ɹəˈklʉːs/ New Zealand
/ˈɹeklʉːs/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -uːs

Where it comes from

From Old French reclus, past participle of reclure, from Latin reclūdere (“to disclose, to open”), from re- + claudō (“close”).

adjective more recluse · most recluse

archaic Sequestered; secluded, isolated. a recluse monk or hermit
archaic Hidden, secret.

Similar: reclusive

noun recluses

archaic A person who lives in self-imposed isolation or seclusion from the world, especially for religious purposes; a hermit. The recluse in the fable kept a cat to keep off the rats, and then a cow to feed the cat with milk, and a man to keep the cow and so on. My ambitions also grew like the family of the recluse.
Similar: anchorite, eremite, hermit
archaic, obsolete The place where a recluse dwells; a place of isolation or seclusion. that day of appearance taken out of the recluse and committed to safe custody
US, abbreviation, archaic, ellipsis Ellipsis of recluse spider
archaic See also Thesaurus:recluse

verb recluses · reclusing · reclused

archaic, obsolete, transitive To shut; to seclude.

Thesaurus

adjective

Similar: reclusive

noun

Translations

Every language

noun a person who lives in self-imposed isolation or seclusion from the world, especially for religious purposes; a hermit

Español	recluso, recluido
中文	隐士 yǐnshì, 遁世者
Português	recluso
Français	reclus, recluse
Deutsch	Einsiedler, Eremit, Sonderling, Eigenbrötler, zurückgezogen lebender Mensch
Ελληνικά	ερημίτης erimítis, αναχωρητής anachoritís, μονόχνωτος monóchnotos
Русский	отше́льник otšélʹnik, затво́рник zatvórnik, сыч syč

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"recluse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/recluse. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

recluse. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/recluse

Chicago

"recluse." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/recluse.

BibTeX

@misc{recluse_2026,
  title = {recluse},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/recluse},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}