hermit
Deliberately alone dweller
A hermit is a person who lives in seclusion, withdrawn from society.
The word traditionally describes religious recluses who retreat to pursue spiritual contemplation: desert hermits of early Christianity.
More loosely, hermit describes anyone who avoids social contact: He's become a hermit since retiring.
A hermit crab lives alone in a borrowed shell.
One choosing isolation
- lonerOne who avoids company
- introvertOne who turns inward
- outsiderOne excluded from group
- eccentricUnconventional in character
misfit · outcast · antisocial · aloof · uncommunicative · shut-in · isolated · withdrawn
Cloistered religious devotee
- nunHebrew alphabet's fourteenth
- anchoriteReligious recluse in enclosure
- cenobiteMonk in community
- cloisterCovered monastic walkway
monastery · cell · retreat · vow · contemplative · ascetic · friar · abbot
Voluntary withdrawal from society
- isolationComplete separation from others
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- retreatSanctuary or withdrawal
- solitaryExisting alone, apart
recluse · loner · withdrawn · secluded · privacy · quietude · aloneness · remoteness
Seeker of sacred truth
- prophetDivinely inspired messenger
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- wise manPerson of great insight
- cave dwellerOne living in caverns
wilderness · seeker · wanderer · pilgrim · philosopher · sage · visionary · holy man
Focused attention practice
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- asceticismSevere self-denial practice
- mysticismPursuit of divine union
transcendence · dharma · sage · guru · yogi · sadhu · satori · devotion
recluse
One choosing isolation
eccentric · misfit · outcast · antisocial · aloof · uncommunicative · shut-in · isolated · withdrawn · solitary
monk
Cloistered religious devotee
cloister · monastery · cell · retreat · vow · contemplative · ascetic · friar · abbot · abbess
seclusion
Voluntary withdrawal from society
- isolationComplete separation from others
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- retreatSanctuary or withdrawal
solitary · recluse · loner · withdrawn · secluded · privacy · quietude · aloneness · remoteness · self-sufficiency
mystic
Seeker of sacred truth
cave dweller · wilderness · seeker · wanderer · pilgrim · philosopher · sage · visionary · holy man · shaman
meditation
Focused attention practice
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- asceticismSevere self-denial practice
mysticism · transcendence · dharma · sage · guru · yogi · sadhu · satori · devotion · prayer
shell
Hard outer covering
- tide poolWave-stranded water hollow
- gastropodSingle-shelled soft creature
- carapaceProtective dorsal exoskeleton
decapod · molting · scavenger · marine · aquatic · claws · antennae · anemone · symbiosis · beach
- solitudesolitude, alone, isolation, aloneness, seclusion
- eccentricsmad scientist, oddball, weirdo, kook, crackpot
- introvertsintrovert, introverted, shy, reserved, loner
- lonersrecluse, loner, lone wolf, introvert, solitary
- outsidersoutcast, outsider, outcasts, pariah, misfit
- Gaelic Irelandhigh king, Book of Kells, Tara, druid, chieftain
hermitsocialite
Prominent figure in fashionable circles
social butterfly · extrovert · socializer · party animal · gadabout
hermitcity dweller
Urban area inhabitant
urbanite · townie · local · cosmopolitan · boulevardier
- hermit crabCrustacean occupying abandoned shells
- hermit kingdomNation deliberately avoiding outside contact
- hermit lifestyleWithdrawn, isolated way of living
- forest hermitOne living alone in woods
- Herman's HermitsSixties British pop group
- hermit crab shellPortable shelter crustacean inhabits
hermitage, hermit crab, hermits, hermitic, hermitages, hermitlike, hermitically, hermit crabs, hermitish