From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishreclusere‧cluse /rɪˈkluːs $ ˈrekluːs/ noun [countable] ALONEsomeone who chooses to live alone, and does not like seeing or talking to other people She became a recluse after her two sons were murdered. —reclusive /rɪˈkluːsɪv/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
recluse• Hudson became a recluse after her husband's death.• He had been a recluse, completely isolated from the world, for the last ten years.• If you don't get out more, you're going to turn into a recluse.• She turned into a recluse or something?• I became more and more of a recluse, avoiding our old haunts for fear of running into him.• They may owe their intact status to the fact that they belong to a recluse.• He was a natural recluse who found all human relationships difficult.• Many people become human relations victims over and over again without becoming hardened, insensitive or recluses.• Old Mr Grimes was a bad-tempered recluse, rarely seen in the town.• The recluse is shy, only biting when threatened.Origin recluse (1100-1200) Old French reclus “shut up”, from Late Latin recludere “to shut up” 