SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
insular
adjective
Narrow in outlook or isolated from outside ideas and influences.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Narrow in outlook
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topInsular commonly criticizes limited exposure or receptiveness; self-contained can be neutral or approving.
RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The insular family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
insularitynoun
A narrow or isolated outlook that excludes outside influences.
A narrow or isolated outlook that excludes outside influences
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
Travel challenged the insularity of the small circle.
The essay criticizes the institution's intellectual insularity.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See insular in use
The insular club rarely sought opinions from beyond its membership.
To challenge its insular habits, the collective invited artists from several different communities to describe their work. The coordinator stressed that provincial thinking was a narrowness of outlook, not a judgment about anyone's hometown.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license