isolated

/ˌaɪsəˈleɪdɪd/

/ˈaɪsəleɪtɪd/

Other forms: isolatedly

Isolated means far away from everyone or everything else. The hermit who lives on a remote island is isolated from the rest of the world, with nothing but coconuts and fish to keep him company.

The word isolated comes from the Latin word insula, which means island. You don't have to be on a remote island to feel isolated, though. Even people who live in big cities can feel a sense of isolation if they don't have many friends and spend a lot of time alone. In addition to remote or set apart, isolated can mean a single event, or incident. The high school students assured their principal that the cafeteria food fight was an isolated incident, promising that it would never, ever happen again.

Definitions of isolated

1. adjective

   remote and separate physically or socially
   “tiny isolated villages remote from centers of civilization”

   synonyms: apart, obscure

   unconnected

   not joined or linked together
2. adjective

   being or feeling set or kept apart from others
   “"could not remain the isolated figure he had been"- Sherwood Anderson”

   synonyms: detached, separated, set-apart

   separate

   independent; not united or joint
3. adjective

   under forced isolation especially for health reasons
   “isolated patients”

   synonyms: quarantined

   segregated, unintegrated

   separated or isolated from others or a main group
4. adjective

   marked by separation of or from usually contiguous elements
   synonyms: disjunct

   separate

   independent; not united or joint
5. adjective

   cut off or left behind
   “an isolated pawn”

   synonyms: marooned, stranded

   unaccompanied

   being without an escort
6. adjective

   not close together in time
   “isolated instances of rebellion”

   synonyms: stray

   sporadic

   recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances