Pronunciations (9)
-
/əˈləʊn/
Pronunciation notes
- Received-Pronunciation
-
/əˈlɛːn/
Pronunciation notes
- Northumbria
-
/əˈlon/
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
-
/əˈloːn/
Pronunciation notes
- Wales
-
/əˈloʊn/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
-
/əˈlʌon/
-
/aˈluŋ/
Pronunciation notes
- Hong-Kong
-
əˈləʊn
Pronunciation notes
- GB
-
əˈloʊn
Pronunciation notes
- US
Adjective
By oneself, solitary.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
I can't ask for help because I am alone.
It is not good that the man should be alone.
More examples (2)
Alone on a wide, wide sea.
When Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. special forces during a historic raid in his native homeland, he wasn't alone. His wife, Cilia Flores, was also detained.
By oneself, solitary. Not involved in a romantic relationship.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
Lacking peers who share one's beliefs, experiences, practices, etc.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
- in the negative
- Examples
-
Senator Craddock wants to abolish the estate tax, and she's not alone.
I always organize my Halloween candy before eating it. Am I alone in this?
More examples (2)
Hungary's leader is not alone in eastern and southern Europe, where democratically elected populist strongmen increasingly dominate, deploying the power of the state and a battery of instruments of intimidation to crush dissent, demonise opposition, tame the media and tailor the system to their ends.
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by it all, you’re not alone.
Apart from, or exclusive of, others.
Usage- not-comparable
- Obsolete
- predicative
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
There are proofs enough in History, and first that beautiful Hynes, so much beloved by Charles the seventh King of France, who valued the alone possession of her Love at so high a rate, that[…]
God, […] by whose alone power and conversation we all live, and move, and have our being.
Mere; consisting of nothing further.
Usage- not-comparable
- Obsolete
- predicative
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
and therefore all Killing, Banishing, Fining, Imprisoning, and other such things, which Men are afflicted with, for the alone exercise of their Conscience, or difference in Worship or Opinion, proceedeth from the spirit of Cain, the Murderer, and is contrary to the Truth;
Unique; rare; matchless.
Usage- not-comparable
- Obsolete
- predicative
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
Pardon me, Proteus, all I can is nothing / To her, whose worth makes other worthies nothing; / She is alone.
Adverb
By oneself; apart from, or exclusive of, others; solo.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
She walked home alone.
Without outside help.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
- Examples
-
The job was too hard for me to do alone.
Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it. Not permitting anything further; exclusively.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
- Examples
-
The president alone has the power to initiate a nuclear launch.
They must be told, that the ultimate authority, wherever the derivative may be found, resides in the People alone;
More examples (1)
The Senate (A.U.C. 514) decreed that the eldest son alone should bear his father's praenomen.
Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it. Not requiring anything further; merely.
Usage- not-comparable
- predicative
- Examples
-
Oral antibiotics alone won't clear the infection.
More examples (1)
Except on matters of mere detail, there are perhaps no practical questions, even among those which approach nearest to the character of purely economical questions, which admit of being decided on economical premises alone.
In writing this tale I had in mind not alone to please my young readers, but also to give them a fair picture of life on the ocean as it is to-day,
Focus adverb, typically modifying a noun and occurring immediately after it. Used to emphasize the size or extent of something by selecting a subset.
Usage- broadly
- not-comparable
- predicative
- Examples
-
Her wardrobe is huge. She has three racks for blazers alone.
The first sentence alone sold me on the book.
More examples (3)
In the first place, though Lady Burton published comparatively little, she was a voluminous writer, and she left behind her such a mass of letters and manuscripts that the sorting of them alone was a formidable task.
“[…] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”
In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
Adjective
isolated from others
- Examples
-
could be alone in a crowded room
was alone with her thoughts
More examples (1)
I want to be alone
lacking companions or companionship
- Examples
-
he was alone when we met him
she is alone much of the time
More examples (4)
the lone skier on the mountain
a lonely fisherman stood on a tuft of gravel
a lonely soul
a solitary traveler
exclusive of anyone or anything else
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
she alone believed him
cannot live by bread alone
More examples (1)
I'll have this car and this car only
radically distinctive and without equal
- Examples
-
he is alone in the field of microbiology
this theory is altogether alone in its penetration of the problem
More examples (4)
Bach was unique in his handling of counterpoint
craftsmen whose skill is unequaled
unparalleled athletic ability
a breakdown of law unparalleled in our history
Adverb
without any others being included or involved
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
was entirely to blame
a school devoted entirely to the needs of problem children
More examples (4)
he works for Mr. Smith exclusively
did it solely for money
the burden of proof rests on the prosecution alone
a privilege granted only to him
without anybody else or anything else
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
the child stayed home alone
the pillar stood alone, supporting nothing
More examples (1)
he flew solo