isolation

/ˈaɪsəˌleɪʃən/

/aɪsəˈleɪʃən/

Other forms: isolations

Isolation means completely alone, like the stranded skiers who were in total isolation after an avalanche stranded them at the top of a mountain.

People who live in isolation are completely cut off from the rest of the world, like the hermit who lives in a lonely mountain cabin because no one understands his desire to collect thimbles. A really contagious illness can land patients in isolation at their local hospital, kept separate from the rest of the hospital so they don't share their disease with the other patients. A country can exist in isolation, left alone because other nations don't agree with its policies.

Definitions of isolation

1. noun

   the act of isolating something; setting something apart from others
   synonyms: closing off

   types:

   quarantine

   isolation to prevent the spread of infectious disease

   type of:

   separation

   the social act of separating or parting company
2. noun

   a state of separation between persons or groups
   types:

   solitude

   the state or situation of being alone

   purdah, solitude

   a state of social isolation

   loneliness, solitariness

   the state of being alone in solitary isolation

   quarantine

   enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease in order to prevent the spread of disease

   detachment, insularism, insularity, insulation

   the state of being isolated or detached

   alienation, estrangement

   separation resulting from hostility

   anomie, anomy

   personal state of isolation and anxiety resulting from a lack of social control and regulation

   concealment, privacy, privateness, secrecy

   the condition of being concealed or hidden

   covertness, hiddenness

   the state of being covert and hidden

   bosom

   the chest considered as the place where secret thoughts are kept

   confidentiality

   the state of being secret

   hiding

   the state of being hidden

   type of:

   separation

   the state of lacking unity
3. noun

   a country's withdrawal from international politics
   “he opposed a policy of American isolation”

   type of:

   non-engagement, non-involvement, nonparticipation

   withdrawing from the activities of a group
4. noun

   a feeling of being disliked and alone
   type of:

   alienation, disaffection, estrangement

   the feeling of being alienated from other people
5. noun

   (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which memory of an unacceptable act or impulse is separated from the emotion originally associated with it
   type of:

   defence, defence mechanism, defence reaction, defense, defense mechanism, defense reaction

   (psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires