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set-apart

set-apart

1 6.7
Feeling separate from other people or different from them
  • adjective
  • /sɛt əˈpɑrt/
translation icon : apartado
  • They designed a garden that is set apart from the rest of the landscape, showcasing rare plants.

Examples

  • It stood alone in a courtyard, set apart by the large, colorful fabric over its entrance.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • I seemed set apart somehow, isolated, contagious.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • And she lives a life that is genuinely set apart, as we find out in that same chapter.

  • It is a time that is special, set apart, unique.

  • He also feels set apart from other students by his age.

    Blog text (9)
  • But in the eyes of the Greco Roman elite, Egypt's continued to be exotic, set apart by its gods, its antiquities, and its wealth.

  • He watched as the lanterns winked out inside the house, first one, and then the other, and the sight gave him a lonely feeling, as if he were set apart from everything warm, sweet, and good.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Childhood, as a time set apart, is a function of the modern era in which, gradually, children are subjected to a rigorous, time-consuming discipline in preparation for entrance into the prevailing social system.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The village is set apart from the busy city, offering a peaceful escape.

  • He always felt set apart from his peers, which made him a bit lonely.

Synonyms

separate
vsset-apart
829 2.1

Not joined to another thing and kept apart

adds a social or emotional distance dimension beyond mere separation
solitary
vsset-apart
191 4.6

Being alone and not with other people or things

is broader, also covering a feeling of being different or kept away
isolated
vsset-apart
78 4.2

Feeling separated from other people and having little contact

adds a sense of being cut off emotionally as well as physically
estranged
vsset-apart
40 6.7

No longer close or warm to someone you used to know well

is not limited to broken personal ties and covers any sense of being apart
detached
vsset-apart
27 5.5

A person who is not affected by personal feelings and shows little emotion

focuses instead on being physically or socially kept separate or distinct
apart
vsset-apart
2 1.7

Different from other people or things

focuses more on the feeling of being kept away from other people
segregated
vsset-apart
  • Offensive
1 5.8

Separated from other people because of race, religion or other differences

is broader, applying to any voluntary or involuntary exclusion from others
separated
vsset-apart
1.0

Not together with other people, kept apart from them

emphasizes the inner experience of loneliness or distinctness rather than just distance
alienated
vsset-apart
6.8

Feeling alone and not part of a group or society

is more general, covering being apart even without social rejection

Antonyms

1.0

Comes with something else in the same package

2.5

Joined physically, like rooms that touch, or linked by a shared feeling

How Isolated

ostracization
  • US
1 8.4
set-apart
1 6.7
secluded
35 5.1
separate
829 2.1

Surface Forms

set-apart positive

Morphology

set-apart = set + apart (transparent) = set + apart

The meaning is directly recoverable from the phrasal combination 'set apart', which means to separate or distinguish.

Etymology

Set-apart comes from two simple words: set meaning 'to place' and apart meaning 'to the side' or 'separate'. So, something or someone set-apart is 'placed away from others', which is why it means being separate or feeling isolated.