alone

alone — adjective

1. having nobody else nearby; not in the company of any other person.

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

having nobody else nearby; not in the company of any other person.

Example

Dimitri was alone in the kitchen when the lights suddenly went out.

predicative: subject + be + alone + place phrase

After her flatmate moved away, Priya lived alone for almost a year.

live alone collocation

Common collocations
  • live alone
  • leave someone alone
  • be alone in a room
  • spend time alone
Synonyms
  • by yourself

    very close in meaning; slightly more conversational

  • on your own

    common in British English; implies independence as well as solitude

  • solitary

    more formal and literary; often suggests a chosen state

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

be alone

leave someone alone

Usage Note

Almost always predicative (after a linking verb such as be, feel, sit). It is unusual to place 'alone' before the noun it describes; for that, use 'lonely' or 'solitary' instead.

Common Mistakes

I saw an alone child at the bus stop.
I saw a child alone at the bus stop.
'alone' is not used before a noun; place it after the noun or use a linking verb.
She feels very alone in the new school, so she has no friends.
She feels very lonely in the new school, so she has no friends.
'alone' describes a physical fact; 'lonely' describes the sad feeling.

2. considered separately from anything or anyone else; with no other people or thin

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

considered separately from anything or anyone else; with no other people or things included.

Example

The price of fuel alone has jumped twenty percent since January.

noun + alone meaning 'just this one'

In Tokyo alone, more than thirty new cafes opened last summer.

place name + alone for emphasis on a single area

Common collocations
  • price alone
  • size alone
  • X alone is/are enough
  • in [place] alone
Synonyms
  • only

    more neutral; can sit before the noun, while 'alone' must follow it

  • by itself

    informal equivalent; common in everyday speech

  • in itself

    fixed phrase; emphasises a thing's own properties separate from context

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

noun + alone

the + noun + alone

Usage Note

Goes immediately after the noun or pronoun it limits, never before. Distinguish from sense 1: here 'alone' isolates one item or person from a larger set, rather than describing a state of solitude.

Common Mistakes

Alone the rent costs nine hundred dollars.
The rent alone costs nine hundred dollars.
in this sense 'alone' must follow the noun, not start the sentence.
Idioms

go it alone

idiom

To do something without help from anyone else.

After years with a partner, Min decided to go it alone.

Did Sara really go it alone on that huge project?

leave/let somebody alone

idiom

To stop annoying or bothering someone.

Please leave me alone while I finish this report.

Why won't the reporters let the actress alone?

leave/let something alone

idiom

To stop touching, changing, or moving something.

Leave that vase alone or you might break it.

I told you to let my computer alone!

let alone

idiom

Used to emphasize that something is even less likely or possible than the thing just mentioned.

He can't afford a bike, let alone a car.

The baby can't walk yet, let alone run.

stand alone

idiom

To be independent or not connected to other things.

This small company cannot stand alone in the market.

Does this chapter stand alone or is it part of a series?

time (alone) will tell | only time will tell

idiom

Used to say that the result of something will only be known in the future.

Only time will tell if their marriage will last.

Time alone will tell whether the new policy works.

alone — adverb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

These four words all describe being apart from other people, but they differ in feeling and formality. 'Alone' is the neutral fact: it simply states that no one else is present, with no comment on how you feel about it — Dimitri is happily alone in the kitchen, finishing a book. 'Lonely' adds the sad feeling of missing company; you can be alone in a busy city and not lonely, or surrounded by classmates and still feel lonely. 'Solitary' is more formal and often suggests a chosen, even peaceful, state of being apart, as in a solitary walk along the beach at dawn. 'Isolated' is the strongest of the four: it points to being cut off, often unwillingly, by distance, illness, or social barriers — a village isolated by snow, or an elderly neighbour who feels isolated after his friends move away.

alone ↗lonely ↗solitary ↗isolated ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • time alone
  • moment alone
  • night alone
  • evening alone

Adverbs

  • completely alone
  • totally alone
  • all alone
  • utterly alone
  • quite alone

Phrases

Prepositions

  • alone with (someone)
  • alone in (a place)
  • alone among (a group)

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

The word started life as the simple two-word phrase 'all one' in early Middle English, used to mean 'wholly by oneself'. Over centuries the two parts blurred together into a single word. The 'all' part survives in fixed expressions like 'all alone', which still keep the original emphatic feeling of being completely on your own.