hermits
People avoiding society
Hermits are people who live in solitude, withdrawn from society.
The term originally described religious recluses who retreated to deserts or wilderness for spiritual devotion, but now applies to anyone who lives alone and avoids human contact: He became a hermit after his wife died.
A hermit crab is a crustacean that occupies empty shells for protection.
Underground hollow in rock
- cellBasic unit of life
- hutSmall crude dwelling
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
- desertTo leave behind completely
retreat · sanctuary · refuge · hideaway · cloister · mountain · forest · grotto
Focused attention practice
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- prayerAddress to deity
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- reflectionReturned light or thought
mindfulness · spirituality · devotion · mysticism · piety · enlightenment · self-examination · awareness
Existing alone, apart
- lonerOne who avoids company
- eremiteReligious hermit
- withdrawnEmotionally distant, disengaged
- isolateSeparate from others
reclusive · antisocial · aloof · unworldly · misanthrope · outsider · introvert · sage
Deliberate food avoidance
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
- renunciationFormal surrender of claim
- self-denialRestraining one's own desires
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
frugality · simplicity · penance · celibacy · discipline · temperance · purification · sacrifice
cave
Underground hollow in rock
- cellBasic unit of life
- hutSmall crude dwelling
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
desert · retreat · sanctuary · refuge · hideaway · cloister · mountain · forest · grotto · cabin
meditation
Focused attention practice
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- prayerAddress to deity
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
reflection · mindfulness · spirituality · devotion · mysticism · piety · enlightenment · self-examination · awareness · rumination
solitary
Existing alone, apart
isolate · reclusive · antisocial · aloof · unworldly · misanthrope · outsider · introvert · sage · ascetic
fasting
Deliberate food avoidance
- abstinenceVoluntary forgoing of indulgences
- renunciationFormal surrender of claim
- self-denialRestraining one's own desires
austerity · frugality · simplicity · penance · celibacy · discipline · temperance · purification · sacrifice · mortification
- asceticsascetic, ascetics, recluse, recluses, monastics
- Christian Saintshagiographies, Catholic martyrs, confessors, mystics, holy women
- Irish monasticismIrish monks, monastic life, monastic ruins, round towers, scriptoriums
- reclusesrecluses, solitaries, loners, shut-ins, isolates
- Ethiopian Faithdrumming, processions, monastic orders, monastic life, white robes
- Orthodox Monksabbot, abbots, novice, novices, cenobite
hermitssocialites
People famous for attending events
social butterflies · extroverts · party animals · networkers · bon vivants
hermitscity dwellers
People living in metropolises
urbanites · cosmopolitans · roommates · cohabitants · neighbors
hermitscenobites
Members of religious communities
monks · friars · missionaries · preachers · evangelists
- 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