Isolatingly

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In a manner that causes separation from others physically or emotionally; exhibiting the quality of creating solitude or detachment; acting in a way that results in loneliness or exclusion
2. Characterized by producing a state of being set apart from a group or environment; behaving so as to induce isolation or estrangement; demonstrating actions that lead to solitude or alienation
3. Expressing behavior or conditions that lead to separation from community or interaction; showing tendencies to create distance or withdrawal from social contact; operating to establish a solitary or insulated state

Etymology: "Isolatingly" is formed from "isolating", the present participle of "isolate", plus the adverb ending "-ly". The verb "isolate" was borrowed into English in the 1800s, drawn from the noun "isolate", which itself came from the Latin "insulatus", meaning "made into an island", from "insula" ("island"). So the word's core image is literally of something being turned into an island, cut off from the mainland of everything around it. The adjective "isolating" is the older and more common form, and in linguistics it has a specific technical sense: an isolating language is one in which words rarely change form and grammatical relationships are shown mainly by separate words and word order rather than by endings. Mandarin Chinese is the usual example. The adverb itself is a modern formation with little history of its own. Its meaning follows the adjective closely, so it describes an action carried out in a way that separates someone or something from others.

Synonyms: separately, independently, exclusively, solitarily

Antonyms: collectively, jointly, together