Skip to main content
isle

isle

19 9.0
A small island that often appears in poems or stories
  • noun
  • /aɪl/
  • Literature
translation icon : isla
  • And she is British, from the Isle of Man and now living in Santa Barbara.

I was on the Isle of Wight with Zoe the girls.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Apparently the Isle of Anglesey is a very popular holiday destination.

  • I hope we meet on that desert isle one day.

  • Next up we have the Isle of Paradise.

  • The distance across the turtle back of the isle is three miles.

    Academic text (2003)
  • It's one of the South Sea isles.

  • On such a balmy summer day, on this Elysian isle, anything seemed possible.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Hey Neil, just want to let you know I'm a big fan and I'm coming to you from the Isle of Malta.

  • When will that day-star, mildly springing, warm our isle with peace and love?

    Academic text (1991)
  • Peering over, she saw, far below, the isles of Greece, dark lumps in a milk-white sea.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • As the sun set over the horizon, I dreamed of escaping to a tranquil isle surrounded by clear blue waters.

Synonyms

island
vsisle
281 3.7

An area surrounded by different things, like a patch of trees in a field

is specifically a small water landform and carries poetic tone
islet
vsisle
7 6.8

A very small island often in a river or lake

is similar in small size but is mainly a poetic or literary term
ile
vsisle
  • Archaic
9.9

An old word for an area of land surrounded by water

is the poetic or literary form rather than the old dialect usage
motu
vsisle
  • Australian
9.9

A small low island often with sand and palm trees in a tropical lagoon

is a small landform too but is used mainly in poetic language

Compounds

Emerald Isle
  • Literature
1 6.1

A poetic name for the island of Ireland covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

1 4.2

An island in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland that governs itself and is famous for motorcycle races

An island county off the south coast of England with beaches and small towns

A small plant from southern Europe with white flowers often grown in gardens but sometimes a weed

An island in northwest Scotland with rough mountains and dramatic scenery

A national park on Isle Royale in Lake Superior, Michigan, known for wild nature, moose, wolves, and old iron mines

A raised area in the middle of a road where people can wait safely before crossing

How Big

island
1.0
isle
  • Literature
19 9.0
islet
7 6.8

Surface Forms

isle singular
isles plural

Etymology

Isle comes from the Latin word insula, which means 'island', and it is the same root as the common word island. So, an isle is a small, often poetic 'island', a little green or rocky place in the sea that writers like to describe.