lone
Americanadjective
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being alone; without company or accompaniment; solitary; unaccompanied.
a lone traveler.
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standing by itself or apart; isolated.
a lone house in the valley.
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sole; single; only.
That company constitutes our lone competitor in the field.
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unmarried or widowed.
adjective
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unaccompanied; solitary
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single or isolated
a lone house
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a literary word for lonely
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unmarried or widowed
Related Words
See alone.
Other Word Forms
- loneness noun
Etymology
Origin of lone
1325–75; Middle English; aphetic var of alone, used attributively
Explanation
Something described as lone is the only one of its kind — it's on its own. The lone child waiting for a ride home from school is the very last kid to be picked up. The lone tree in your yard is the only one growing there, and if your well is your lone source of water, it's the only way that water flows from the shower or the kitchen faucet. Sometimes lone is used to mean "lacking support," as when a state senator's vote is a lone voice in opposition to a proposed bill. If someone calls you a "lone wolf," they see you as someone who prefers acting alone.
Vocabulary lists containing lone
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 6
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Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Trump later told reporters that a gunman he described as a "lone wolf" and a "whack job" had charged through security screening just outside the ballroom.
From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026
Retired lorry driver Stephen Doughty, flew into parking rage when he feared he would get a ticket from the lone warden in a market town.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
Ohtani, who won most valuable player awards in four of the last five seasons, is the lone two-way player.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
As the week's lone genuinely dissenting voice, Gore called for a real action plan to map threatened jobs and prepare workers for career transitions, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the globalization era.
From Barron's • Apr. 12, 2026
Letting go of Mamá, I turned toward the source of the footsteps to see the figure of a lone man standing at the threshold of the kitchen door.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
