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apart

apart

1.0
Not together because of distance, time or different homes
  • adverb
  • /əˈpɑrt/
translation icon : separado
  • When we are apart, I feel it too.
  • live apart
  • far apart
  • drift apart

You can have too little if the atoms are too far apart, no bond.

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Examples

  • Elephants recognize each other after years apart and even seem to mourn their dead.

  • We've spent a lifetime apart.

  • Oh, here we go, how far apart we are on so many things.

  • When we are apart, I feel it too.

  • When we started this movie, we had never been apart for more than a week.

  • We had gotten used to being apart and living apart.

  • We're all so far apart.

  • Hong Kong's future economic structure further sets it apart from the rest of mainland China.

    Academic text (1990)
  • We had gotten used to being apart and living apart.

  • After three years apart, you all get back together for the film.

Synonyms

separate
vsapart
829 2.1

Not joined to another thing and kept apart

focuses on being not together across distance, space, or time
distant
vsapart
246 2.8

Far away in space, not near you

is broader, covering separation by distance, time, or distinctness
distinct
vsapart
168 3.5

Clearly different from others

emphasizes physical or temporal separation rather than difference in kind
isolated
vsapart
56 3.8

Far from other places or people and hard to reach

focuses on separation by distance, space, or time rather than only being cut off
far-off
vsapart
45 4.2

Very far away in place or time

expresses separation in general rather than extreme remoteness
faraway
vsapart
34 2.8

Far from here in place or time

focuses more generally on being not together, not only remoteness
detached
vsapart
3 3.8

A house that stands alone and is not joined to other houses

refers more generally to being separate in distance, time, or relation, not only buildings
set-apart
vsapart
1 6.7

Feeling separate from other people or different from them

describes separation by distance, space, or time rather than feeling alone
separated
vsapart
1.0

Not together with other people, kept apart from them

focuses on being not together across distance, space, or time
removed
vsapart
5.3

Far away in time, space, or relation from something

highlights being not together across distance, space, or time
disjoined
vsapart
7.1

Separated so parts are not connected anymore

means separation by distance or time rather than loss of a prior link
discontiguous
vsapart
8.9

Made of separate parts that do not touch each other

focuses on not being together across space or time rather than mere contact gaps
disjunct
vsapart
  • Specialized
9.9

Found in separate areas as groups that are not connected

applies broadly to physical or temporal separation, not only in scientific distributions

Antonyms

1.0

In the same place or group with other people

Idioms

worlds apart
  • Informal
9 4.5

People or things that are very different and have nothing important in common

To fall apart or stop working properly after being stable

poles apart
  • Informal
1 5.6

Very different from each other in every way

Suddenly fail completely because it is weak or badly built

Compounds

taking apart
  • Offensive
1 8.7

To cut something, often a body, into separate pieces

1 6.7

Feeling separate from other people or different from them

How Separate

isolated
56 3.8
distant
246 2.8
apart
1.0
nearby
325 1.0
together
1.0

Surface Forms

apart positive

Morphology

apart = part (semi-transparent) = a + part

The link to 'part' is understandable, but the prefix 'a-' is not productive for most learners, so the meaning 'separately/not together' is only partly predictable.

Etymology

Apart comes from old words that meant 'to a part' or 'to the side', made of a- ('from' or 'to') and part ('piece' or 'side'). So apart means 'not together' and is used when people or things are separated in space or distance.