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cocooning

cocooning

1 6.8
Staying at home to be comfortable and avoid meeting people
  • noun
  • /kəˈkuːnɪŋ/
translation icon : cocooning
  • During the pandemic, many people turned to cocooning as a way to find comfort and avoid stress from the outside world.
  • cocooning era

So it was going from nesting to burrowing to cocooning.

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Examples

  • On the one hand, there is the switching to heavier coats, cocooning, even mourning, and the urge to hibernate or hide.

    Blog text (20)
  • Cocooning allows individuals to relax and rejuvenate without the pressures of outside social interactions.

  • So, the cocooning dynamics are profound.

    Blog text (16)
  • And I think, you know, it's it's this is where the cocoon the your four walls as a family really, really matters.

  • And So what I would, what I would suggest is self-care in this time of cocooning, you know, don't use this time to feed your mind, you know, just negative stuff all the time.

  • "Cocooning" is the phrase market researchers coined to describe this tendency for families to stay closer to home for dining, entertaining, and working, and all these trends were developing before September 11, but accelerated after the attacks.

    Academic text (2005)
  • She enjoys cocooning on weekends, spending time reading and watching movies in the comfort of her living room.

Synonyms

cocooner lifestyle
vscocooning
8.2

A way of living that prefers staying at home for comfort instead of going out

aims to avoid socializing or outside stress rather than just preference

Antonyms

14 2.1

Spending time with other people to enjoy their company and make friends

How Homebound

cocooning
1 6.8
homebody
8 5.5

Surface Forms

cocooning singular
cocoonings plural

Morphology

cocooning = cocoon (semi-transparent) = cocoon + ing

Formed by a standard gerund/nominalization of 'cocoon', but the sense 'staying inside for comfort or avoidance' is a metaphorical extension rather than a purely literal action.

Etymology

Cocooning comes from cocoon, the soft silk case a caterpillar makes 'to become a butterfly' and to keep itself safe and warm. So, cocooning means wrapping yourself at home for comfort and protection, staying inside to relax or avoid stress.