When you are alone, you are not with any other people.
There is nothing so frightening as to be alone in a combat situation.
He was all alone in the middle of the hall.
Synonyms: solitary, isolated, sole, separate More Synonyms of alone
Alone is also an adverb.
She has lived alone in this house for almost five years now.
He was sitting alone at a table reading a newspaper.
2. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If one person is alonewith another person, or if two or more people are alone, they are together, without anyone else present.
I couldn't imagine why he would want to be alone with me. [+ with]
My brother and I were alone with Vincent. [+ with]
3. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If you say that you are alone or feel alone, you mean that nobody who is with you, or nobody at all, cares about you.
Never in her life had she felt so alone, so abandoned.
He found himself alone in a hostile world.
Synonyms: lonely, abandoned, deserted, isolated More Synonyms of alone
4. adverb [noun ADVERB]
You say that one person or thing alone does something when you are emphasizing that only one person or thing is involved.
[emphasis]
You alone should determine what is right for you.
They were convicted on forensic evidence alone.
Synonyms: solely, only, individually, singly More Synonyms of alone
5. adverb [noun ADVERB]
If you say that one person or thing alone is responsible for part of an amount, you are emphasizing the size of that part and the size of the total amount.
[emphasis]
The BBC alone is sending 300 technicians, directors and commentators.
Megastars like Jack Nicholson, who made £50 million from Batman alone, are unlikelyto be affected.
6. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If someone is alonein doing something, they are the only person doing it, and so are different from other people.
If you sometimes feel pain at the front of your shins after running, you are farfrom alone.
Am I alone in thinking that this scandal should finish his career? [+ in]
Alone is also an adverb.
Alone among the great Victorian novelists, Hardy lived long enough to see his workadapted for the screen.
I alone was sane, I thought, in a world of crazy people.
7. adverb [ADVERB after verb]
When someone does something alone, they do it without help from other people.
Bringing up a child alone should give you a sense of achievement.
He was working alone and did not have an accomplice.
Synonyms: by yourself, independently, unaided, unaccompanied More Synonyms of alone
8.
See go it alone
9. to leave someone or something alone
10. let alone
More Synonyms of alone
alone in British English
(əˈləʊn)
adjective, adverb(postpositive)
1.
apart from another or others; solitary
2.
without anyone or anything else
one person alone could lift it
3.
without equal; unique
he stands alone in the field of microbiology
4.
to the exclusion of others; only
she alone believed him
5. leave alone
6. leave well alone
7. let alone
Word origin
Old English al one, literally: all (entirely) one
alone in American English
(əˈloʊn)
adjective, adverb
1.
apart from anything or anyone else
the hut stood alone on the prairie
2.
without involving any other person
to walk alone
3.
without anything further; with nothing more; only
the carton alone weighs two pounds
4.
without equal or peer
to stand alone as an example of courage
▶ USAGE: As an adjective, alone generally follows the word it modifies
Idioms:
let alone
let well enough alone
SYNONYMY NOTE: alone, unqualified, denotes the simple fact of being by oneself or itself; , solitary conveys the same sense but suggests more strongly the lack of companionship or association[a solitary tree in the meadow]; lonely, and the more poetic , lone, convey a heightened sense of solitude and gloom [the lonely sentinel walks his post]; lonesome suggests a longing or yearning for companionship, often for a particular person [the child is lonesome for her mother]
OPPOSITE: accompanied
Word origin
ME < al, all + one, one
Examples of 'alone' in a sentence
alone
She makes an intriguing subject on the ground of her unconventional social life alone.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
So if the bullied reads about the bullied then they will feel less alone.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The running costs for the main house alone are well into six figures a year.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You worry about going out alone and what other people think of you.
The Sun (2016)
It is too important a subject to leave to politicians alone.
The Sun (2017)
The points alone were enough to satisfy their manager.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Your advice to be creative helped get me thinking of ways that we could spend time alone together.
The Sun (2017)
You enjoy the company of others, but also need time alone.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They would barely hold open a window, let alone a door.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He claimed that his health was suffering from being locked up alone without seeing guards for at least 22 hours a day.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
How was it that she had no friends and was wandering about alone?
William Thackeray Vanity Fair (1837)
Sometimes we as evangelical pastors feel alone.
Christianity Today (2000)
She has told me she does not want to spend the rest of her life alone.
The Sun (2014)
They need to leave the guy alone!
The Sun (2014)
The thought of passing away alone also terrifies me.
The Sun (2015)
These changes alone will be enough to push some landlords into making a loss.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Neither one alone without the other under it will do.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
Volunteers were offered a game to play alone or against another.
The Sun (2011)
This alone means they will have to maintain a consistently high standard.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Bands grow up together but they grow apart alone.
The Sun (2014)
If only they would just leave it alone.
Admiral Sandy Woodward, With Patrick Robinson ONE HUNDRED DAYS (2003)
Funding for schools and intelligence services will also be left alone.
The Sun (2010)
But his creativity alone was not enough.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Most of the claims that have gone were brought by employees alone and without lawyers.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It is another sign of change that he speaks at all, let alone with such openness.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The frame alone would cost around 9,000.
The Sun (2012)
Quotations
I want to be aloneGreta GarboGrand Hotel (film)
In other languages
alone
British English: alone /əˈləʊn/ ADJECTIVE
When you are alone, you are not with any other people.
She wanted to be alone.
American English: alone
Arabic: وَحِيد
Brazilian Portuguese: sozinho
Chinese: 单独的
Croatian: sam
Czech: sám
Danish: alene
Dutch: alleen
European Spanish: solo aislado
Finnish: yksin
French: seul
German: allein
Greek: μόνος
Italian: solo
Japanese: ただ一人の
Korean: 홀로
Norwegian: alene
Polish: samotny
European Portuguese: sozinho
Romanian: singur
Russian: одинокий
Latin American Spanish: solo
Swedish: ensam
Thai: โดยลำพัง
Turkish: yalnız
Ukrainian: сам
Vietnamese: một mình
All related terms of 'alone'
let alone
Let alone is used after a statement , usually a negative one, to indicate that the statement is even more true of the person, thing, or situation that you are going to mention next .
home-alone
(esp of a young child) left in a house, flat , etc unattended
leave alone
to refrain from annoying or interfering with
stand-alone
A stand-alone business or organization is independent and does not receive financial support from another organization.
go it alone
If you go it alone , you do something without any help from other people.
leave well alone
to refrain from interfering with something that is satisfactory
leave someone alone
to permit to stay or be alone
just leave well alone
to refrain from interfering with something that is satisfactory
let well enough alone
to be content with things as they are and not try to improve them
to leave well alone
If someone tells you to leave well alone , they are telling you not to interfere in something, because it is all right as it is and you might only make it worse .
leave well enough alone
see the phrase under → alone
God knows/God only knows/God alone knows
You can say God knows , God only knows , or God alone knows to emphasize that you do not know something.
to leave someone or something alone leave sb/sth be
If you leave someone or something alone , or if you leave them be , you do not pay them any attention or bother them.
Chinese translation of 'alone'
alone
(əˈləun)
adj
(= not with other people) 独(獨)自的 (dúzì de)
(= having no family or friends) 孤独(獨)的 (gūdú de)
to be alone together (= with no other people) 单(單)独(獨)在一起 (dāndú zài yīqǐ)
adv
(= unaided) 独(獨)自地 (dúzì de)
in Florida/France alone (= merely) (used for emphasis) 仅(僅)仅(僅)在佛罗(羅)里达(達)/法国(國) (jǐnjǐn zài Fóluólǐdá/Fǎguó)
to leave sb/sth alone (= undisturbed) 不要打扰(擾)某人/某物 (bùyào dǎrǎo mǒurén/mǒuwù)
to be alone with sb与(與)某人独(獨)处(處) (yǔ mǒurén dúchǔ)
let alone ... 更谈(談)不上 ... (gèng tán bù shàng ... )
I alone survived只有我幸(倖)存下来(來) (zhǐyǒu wǒ xìngcún xiàlái)
All related terms of 'alone'
all alone
孤零零的 gūlínglíng de
let alone ...
更谈(談)不上 ... gèng tán bù shàng ...
I alone survived
只有我幸(倖)存下来(來) zhǐyǒu wǒ xìngcún xiàlái
to be alone together
( with no other people ) 单(單)独(獨)在一起 dāndú zài yīqǐ
in Florida/France alone
( merely : used for emphasis ) 仅(僅)仅(僅)在佛罗(羅)里达(達)/法国(國) jǐnjǐn zài Fóluólǐdá/Fǎguó