isolophilia

Welcome to another edition of Beautiful Words. I’ve been working to expand my vocabulary. As a writer, I don’t like to get bogged down with the same old words. Whether I’m working on newspaper or magazine assignments, client projects, or my own fiction, I get sick of seeing words like ‘said,’ or ‘slowly,’ or ‘went.’

Sure, these words have specific meanings and, for the sake of clarity, they need to be used in certain situations. But I challenge myself to come up with something more interesting whenever appropriate or possible.

This week’s word is one you may not know, but if you look at the roots, it’s easy to understand.

The word is isolophilia. It’s a noun. It means:

strong affection for solitude, being alone

Well, who doesn’t like that? I mean, most writers are in their element when they are alone. That’s when the magic happens, right?

Let’s look at the roots of this word: isolo – philia.

You’ll recognize isolo from words like isolate, insulate, or solo. Each has a meaning that refers to aloneness or being solitary. And, philia means tending toward, or perhaps a fondness. So, put them together, and you’ve got tending toward aloneness. Simple.

Like most writers, I enjoy going out and experiencing life, observing, having fun with friends and family, learning new things. But give me a healthy dose of isolophilia any day and I’m happy.

What are some of your favorite beautiful words?