anchoretic
Definition
- Adjective:
- Relating to or characteristic of a hermit or recluse: "anchoretic" describes a lifestyle, state, or quality associated with living in solitude, typically for religious or contemplative reasons.
- Pertaining to an anchoress or anchorite: It specifically refers to those who choose a secluded, ascetic existence apart from society.
Usage Examples
- (A life of solitude and withdrawal.)
- (Dwelling places for reclusive monks or hermits.)
Advanced Usage
"anchoretic retreat": a period or place of withdrawal from worldly affairs.
- After years of public service, she took an anchoretic retreat to a desert hermitage. (A deliberate, solitary escape.)
"anchoretic ideal": the concept or model of a solitary, ascetic life.
- The anchoretic ideal was central to early Christian monasticism. (The principle of living as a hermit.)
Variants and Related Words
Anchorite (n): a person who lives in seclusion, often for religious reasons.
- The anchorite spent decades in prayer and meditation. (A recluse hermit.)
Anchoretic (adj) — the target word itself.
- Anchoretism (n): the practice or state of being an anchorite.
- Anchoretism was common in the desert fathers of the 4th century. (The lifestyle of living as a hermit.)
Synonyms
- Hermitic: relating to a hermit; solitary.
- Eremitic: of or like a hermit; reclusive.
- Reclusive: seeking or preferring solitude.
Related Idioms
"Live like a hermit": to avoid social contact and live alone.
- After his retirement, he lived like a hermit in the woods. (A life of extreme solitude, similar to anchoretic.)
"Go into the wilderness": to withdraw from society for spiritual or personal reasons.
- She went into the wilderness to pursue an anchoretic existence. (To embrace a solitary, ascetic life.)