"lone wolf" meaning in English

See lone wolf in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: lone wolves [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|lone wolves}} lone wolf (plural lone wolves)
  1. A wolf that is not part of a pack. Categories (topical): Crime Derived forms: lone wolfer, lone-wolfing Translations (wolf that is not part of a pack): 孤狼 (gūláng) (Chinese Mandarin), yksinäinen susi (Finnish), 一匹狼 (ippiki ōkami) (alt: いっぴきおおかみ) (Japanese), samotny wilk [masculine] (Polish), бирюк (birjuk) [masculine] (Russian), ensamvarg [common-gender] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-lone_wolf-en-noun-2X3EBc-Z Disambiguation of Crime: 19 38 43 Disambiguation of 'wolf that is not part of a pack': 90 0 10
  2. (figuratively) A person who avoids the company of others; a loner; an independent or solitary person. Tags: figuratively Categories (topical): Crime, Ethology, Human behaviour, People Categories (lifeform): Wolves Translations (person who avoids the company of others): yksinäinen susi (Finnish), einsamer Wolf [masculine] (German), magányos farkas (Hungarian), 一匹狼 (ippikiōkami) (alt: いっぴきおおかみ) (Japanese), 독불 장군 (dokbul janggun) (Korean), samotny wilk [masculine] (Polish), lobo solitário [masculine] (Portuguese), ensamvarg [common-gender] (Swedish), yalnız kurt (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-lone_wolf-en-noun-qL5DAbP6 Disambiguation of Crime: 19 38 43 Disambiguation of Ethology: 22 56 22 Disambiguation of Human behaviour: 26 70 4 Disambiguation of People: 11 57 33 Disambiguation of Wolves: 32 59 9 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 26 65 9 Disambiguation of 'person who avoids the company of others': 0 91 8
  3. (by extension) A criminal who acts alone, not as part of a group. Tags: broadly Categories (topical): Crime Translations (criminal who acts alone): 独狼 (dúláng) (Chinese Mandarin), yksinäinen susi (Finnish), 一匹狼 (ippiki ōkami) (alt: いっぴきおおかみ) (Japanese), ローンウルフ (rōn urufu) (Japanese), ローンオフェンダー (rōn ofendā) (Japanese), samotny wilk [masculine] (Polish), rato solitário [masculine] (Portuguese), ratos solitários [masculine, plural] (Portuguese), lobo solitario [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-lone_wolf-en-noun-0fE7aJIf Disambiguation of Crime: 19 38 43 Disambiguation of 'criminal who acts alone': 1 17 81

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for lone wolf meaning in English (7.8kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lone wolves",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 38 43",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Crime",
          "orig": "en:Crime",
          "parents": [
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Law",
            "All topics",
            "Justice",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
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      "derived": [
        {
          "_dis1": "63 13 24",
          "word": "lone wolfer"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "63 13 24",
          "word": "lone-wolfing"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1921, Max Brand, chapter XIII, in The Seventh Man",
          "text": "They knew what it meant; even Joan had heard the cry of the lone wolf hunting in the lean time of winter, and of all things sad, all things lonely, all things demoniacal, the howl of a wolf stands alone.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A wolf that is not part of a pack."
      ],
      "id": "en-lone_wolf-en-noun-2X3EBc-Z",
      "links": [
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          "wolf",
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "90 0 10",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "gūláng",
          "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
          "word": "孤狼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "90 0 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
          "word": "yksinäinen susi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "90 0 10",
          "alt": "いっぴきおおかみ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ippiki ōkami",
          "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
          "word": "一匹狼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "90 0 10",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
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        },
        {
          "_dis1": "90 0 10",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "birjuk",
          "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "бирюк"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "90 0 10",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "ensamvarg"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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          "_dis": "26 65 9",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "19 38 43",
          "kind": "topical",
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          "_dis": "22 56 22",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Ethology",
          "orig": "en:Ethology",
          "parents": [
            "Zoology",
            "Biology",
            "Sciences",
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            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "26 70 4",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Human behaviour",
          "orig": "en:Human behaviour",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 57 33",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "32 59 9",
          "kind": "lifeform",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Wolves",
          "orig": "en:Wolves",
          "parents": [
            "Canids",
            "Carnivores",
            "Mammals",
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            "Chordates",
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            "Life",
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          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1915, Zane Grey, The Lone Star Ranger",
          "text": "You'll never mix in. You'll be a lone wolf. I seen that right off. Wal, if a man can stand the loneliness, an' if he's quick on the draw, mebbe lone-wolfin' it is the best.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
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      ],
      "id": "en-lone_wolf-en-noun-qL5DAbP6",
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          "independent"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A person who avoids the company of others; a loner; an independent or solitary person."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "word": "yksinäinen susi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "einsamer Wolf"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "word": "magányos farkas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "alt": "いっぴきおおかみ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ippikiōkami",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "word": "一匹狼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "dokbul janggun",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "word": "독불 장군"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "samotny wilk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "lobo solitário"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "ensamvarg"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "0 91 8",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
          "word": "yalnız kurt"
        }
      ]
    },
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      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 38 43",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Crime",
          "orig": "en:Crime",
          "parents": [
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Law",
            "All topics",
            "Justice",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2017 October 2, \"Las Vegas shooting: At least 58 dead at Mandalay Bay Hotel\", in bbc.com, BBC",
          "text": "Paddock's motives remain unclear. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo described the shooting as a \"lone wolf\" attack. \"We have no idea what his belief system was,\" he said."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 17, Lisa O'Carroll, Miranda Bryant, Lorenzo Tondo, “Killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels ‘probably lone wolf’ attack”, in The Guardian, →ISSN",
          "text": "A Tunisian man who killed two Swedish citizens in a terrorist attack in Brussels was “probably a lone wolf”, the Belgian prime minister has said, as Sweden and Italy called for security at Europe’s borders to be tightened.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A criminal who acts alone, not as part of a group."
      ],
      "id": "en-lone_wolf-en-noun-0fE7aJIf",
      "links": [
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          "part",
          "part"
        ],
        [
          "group",
          "group"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A criminal who acts alone, not as part of a group."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "dúláng",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "word": "独狼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "word": "yksinäinen susi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "alt": "いっぴきおおかみ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "ippiki ōkami",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "word": "一匹狼"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "rōn urufu",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "word": "ローンウルフ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "rōn ofendā",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "word": "ローンオフェンダー"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "samotny wilk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "rato solitário"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine",
            "plural"
          ],
          "word": "ratos solitários"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 17 81",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "lobo solitario"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "lone wolf"
  ],
  "word": "lone wolf"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "en:Crime",
    "en:Ethology",
    "en:Human behaviour",
    "en:People",
    "en:Wolves"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "lone wolfer"
    },
    {
      "word": "lone-wolfing"
    }
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "lone wolves",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "lone wolves"
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      "expansion": "lone wolf (plural lone wolves)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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        {
          "ref": "1921, Max Brand, chapter XIII, in The Seventh Man",
          "text": "They knew what it meant; even Joan had heard the cry of the lone wolf hunting in the lean time of winter, and of all things sad, all things lonely, all things demoniacal, the howl of a wolf stands alone.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A wolf that is not part of a pack."
      ],
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1915, Zane Grey, The Lone Star Ranger",
          "text": "You'll never mix in. You'll be a lone wolf. I seen that right off. Wal, if a man can stand the loneliness, an' if he's quick on the draw, mebbe lone-wolfin' it is the best.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) A person who avoids the company of others; a loner; an independent or solitary person."
      ],
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    {
      "categories": [
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          "ref": "2017 October 2, \"Las Vegas shooting: At least 58 dead at Mandalay Bay Hotel\", in bbc.com, BBC",
          "text": "Paddock's motives remain unclear. Las Vegas Sheriff Joe Lombardo described the shooting as a \"lone wolf\" attack. \"We have no idea what his belief system was,\" he said."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 October 17, Lisa O'Carroll, Miranda Bryant, Lorenzo Tondo, “Killing of two Swedish football fans in Brussels ‘probably lone wolf’ attack”, in The Guardian, →ISSN",
          "text": "A Tunisian man who killed two Swedish citizens in a terrorist attack in Brussels was “probably a lone wolf”, the Belgian prime minister has said, as Sweden and Italy called for security at Europe’s borders to be tightened.",
          "type": "quotation"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A criminal who acts alone, not as part of a group."
      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A criminal who acts alone, not as part of a group."
      ],
      "tags": [
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "gūláng",
      "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
      "word": "孤狼"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
      "word": "yksinäinen susi"
    },
    {
      "alt": "いっぴきおおかみ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ippiki ōkami",
      "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
      "word": "一匹狼"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "samotny wilk"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "birjuk",
      "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "бирюк"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "wolf that is not part of a pack",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "ensamvarg"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "word": "yksinäinen susi"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "einsamer Wolf"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "word": "magányos farkas"
    },
    {
      "alt": "いっぴきおおかみ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ippikiōkami",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "word": "一匹狼"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "dokbul janggun",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "word": "독불 장군"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "samotny wilk"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lobo solitário"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "ensamvarg"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "person who avoids the company of others",
      "word": "yalnız kurt"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "dúláng",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "word": "独狼"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "word": "yksinäinen susi"
    },
    {
      "alt": "いっぴきおおかみ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "ippiki ōkami",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "word": "一匹狼"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "rōn urufu",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "word": "ローンウルフ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "rōn ofendā",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "word": "ローンオフェンダー"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "samotny wilk"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "rato solitário"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine",
        "plural"
      ],
      "word": "ratos solitários"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "criminal who acts alone",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "lobo solitario"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "lone wolf"
  ],
  "word": "lone wolf"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.