Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏠 A homebound person 🏠 Staying indoors
shut-in

shut-in

1 8.4
Staying mostly at home because of illness, injury, or not wanting to go out
  • adjective
  • /ˈʃʌtˌɪn/
translation icon : recluido
  • He became a shut-in during the winter months, avoiding the cold and staying indoors.

Examples

  • Ever since his illness, he has become more of a shut-in and rarely leaves his apartment.

  • Many shut-in individuals prefer reading or online activities over social gatherings.

  • The documentary follows a shut-in artist who finds inspiration without venturing outside.

  • She feels like a shut-in during the winter months.

  • Are you feeling like a shut-in today?

  • After her surgery, she felt like a shut-in, rarely wanting to leave her house.

  • Many people who are shut-in due to anxiety benefit from virtual support groups.

Synonyms

housebound
vsshut-in
4 6.0

Not able to leave home because you are sick or very old

may also stay indoors from reluctance or social withdrawal rather than only physical inability
homebound
vsshut-in
3 5.8

Unable to leave home because of illness, disability, or old age

may include people who stay inside from choice or social withdrawal
shut up
vsshut-in
3 7.2

Kept inside a small place and cannot leave

may stay indoors from reluctance or social withdrawal rather than only confinement
sequestered
vsshut-in
7.4

Kept away from other people in a quiet private place

implies staying indoors because of illness inability or social withdrawal rather than chosen privacy

Antonyms

socialite
29 6.7

A person well known in high society who often goes to parties

extrovert
7 3.9

A person who gets energy from being with other people and likes meeting new people

How Withdrawn

reclusive
24 7.4
shut-in
1 8.4
housebound
4 6.0
homebound
3 5.8
stay-at-home
9 4.1

Surface Forms

shut-in positive

Morphology

shut-in = shut (transparent) = in + shut

The adjective is transparently built from the phrase 'shut in', meaning kept or remaining inside. [Postprocessing: moved 'in' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The adjective shut-in also breaks into shut ('closed') and in ('inside'), giving the image of staying behind closed doors; so it describes someone who stays at home — unable or not wanting to go out because of illness, disability, or withdrawal from social life.