standalone

American  

[stand-uh-lohn] / ˈstænd əˌloʊn /

Or stand-alone

adjective

1. complete unto itself; not being or understood as part of a set, system, or series; self-contained: The studio doubted that this story would find an audience as a stand-alone film.

   Our aerospace degree plan is a standalone program, and not a division of the mechanical engineering department.

   The studio doubted that this story would find an audience as a stand-alone film.

2. Computers. able to operate without other hardware or software.

   There are several standalone apps you can use to add live captioning to your videos.

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noun

1. a single work that may be understood and appreciated without knowledge of other episodes, books, issues, etc..

   The author has taken a break from the series to put out two standalones just in time for the holidays.

2. Computers. a device or program that does not need other hardware or software to fully function.

   A decent VR rig for your PC won’t be any cheaper than a standalone.

Etymology

Origin of standalone

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Arcuri also sees “net new demand for standalone CPU-only server racks,” which he thinks will likely be evenly split between x86-based CPUs and those based on Arm’s chip architecture.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

In a separate post, Musk said he was "dissolving" xAI as a standalone company.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

Narrow and standalone, it is supported by more than 100 members of the House.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 2026

TKE, or TK Elevator, split from Germany's Thyssenkrupp to become a standalone company in 2020 and is owned by a consortium including the private equity groups Advent and Cinven.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

IOI’s intranet was a high-security, standalone network with no direct connections to the OASIS.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline