Meaning of detached

[Carol Gothen]

English Synonym, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #69 "Synonyms for lonely and alone", question 4

After his wife's death, his evenings have been long and ..........

(a) single
(b) alone
(c) solitary
(d) detached

English Synonym, Elementary Level

ESL/EFL Test #69 "Synonyms for lonely and alone", answer 4

After his wife's death, his evenings have been long and solitary.

Correct answer: (c) solitary
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How to use the word "detached"?

Carol

[Alan]

Hi Carol,

Detached means separated from something. It is the oppoitse of attach meaning connect.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Kimchitran]

Hi Alan,
The answer for this question is soritary. Please explain what does it mean instead of "detached". Thanks
Kim Chi Tran

[Alan]

Hi,

'Detached' has the sense of removed from and is used in the sense of 'detached from reality' suggesting that you live in a world of your own, removed from society.

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Balankl]

Can you please send me some words with the meaning and in which copntext we need to use.... can you send me some words which will be very useful ...thanks,

[Zc0000]

Could somebody give some reason why "solitary" should be chosen here ? Why not choose "alone" ? or can some other words like "lonesome" , "lone" suit in this scene??
Many thanks !!!

[Beeesneees]

'Alone' is not the correct form.
In this context the nearest acceptable derivative of 'alone' would be 'lonely', though in this particular test example 'lonely' is not an option.
'lonely' and 'solitary' can sometimes be synonyms, and they would be interchangeable in the quoted sentence.
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Cheers m' dears!

[Zc0000]

Hi Beeesneees , thanks for your timely response ! I still have a doubt that you said "Alone is not the correct form" ; why "alone" shouldn't be used here ? I think alone can act as a predicative as the sentence is "have been + ..... " , so I think it is reasonable to append a predicative here; as far as i know , lonely is often used to decorate a "noun" .. If you don't mind please enlighten me with a clearer sense , thanks ~~~

[Beeesneees]

The subject of the second sentence is 'evenings':
his evenings have been long,
his evenings have been lonely,

we would not describe evenings as 'alone'.
Evenings is a noun, so it is correct to 'decorate it' with lonely.
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Cheers m' dears!

[Sonia*]