It’s much more interesting (and quick) to state that somebody is a lone wolf than to drag out a long-winded explanation that they are loners and difficult to get along with or have an antisocial personality.
But what, exactly, does lone wolf mean? Lone wolf is an idiom, meaning it is not defined by its literal meaning but rather provides a figurative use to help create more interesting diction in speech and writing. Idioms often serve as analogies or symbols of an author’s message, so it is essential to have some general knowledge of an idiom’s context.
Luckily, most idioms are easy to understand in context or offer a hint of their meaning in how they are worded. Lone wolf is a great example of this, as we explore below.
What Does Lone Wolf Mean?
Lone wolf is a term used to describe a person who does not socialize with others, prefers solitude, or is antisocial in their behaviors towards society in general. A person described as a lone wolf lives, works, and relaxes in isolation.
Although most people perceived as lone wolves are tolerated and not viewed as a threat, the term has been used to describe suspicion of those rarely seen in public. This is especially true since the media often uses the term in conjunction with singular criminal behaviors if the suspect is someone who acts on their own, lives in isolation, or does not socialize with family, neighbors, or former friends.
For example:
- The incident is considered a lone wolf attack since the perpetrator seems to have acted alone.
- I know you want to get to know him better, but he is such a lone wolf. Are you sure you want to try and pursue that relationship?
- That’s why he makes such a good photojournalist; he is somewhat of a lone wolf, observing his surroundings without disrupting what is happening.
What Is the Origin of the Saying Lone Wolf?
A lone wolf is literally a wolf that has left its pack and is wandering on its own. Wolves are pack animals with a very specific hierarchy. The alpha male and female are the only adults allowed to breed and raise a litter. The rest of the pack is subordinate to them, and they work together to raise the pups and keep the pack fed.
On the occasion that food is scarce, the pack has grown so large that it is hard to keep all fed, or when possible interbreeding concerns become apparent, singular male (and sometimes female) wolves break from the pack to find another pack, or to find a mate and start a new pack.
Wolves are also territorial and stay in a specific hunting and denning range. Therefore, lone wolves often travel far distances before setting back into new territory.
The figurative use of the term lone wolf derives from animal behavior to isolate and wander without a pack for a period of time. Unlike wolves, however, when the term lone wolf is applied to a human, chances are the human is not seeking a new social situation.
The use of lone wolf was first described in a figurative sense in H.G. Well’s The Invisible Man, published in 1897: “Don’t be a lone wolf. Publish your results.”
Steven Crane called war correspondents “lone wolves” in Active Service, published in 1899. And F.H. Tillotson stated that “occasionally the police run across Panhandlers known as ‘lone wolves’—that is, they do not mix with others of their class,” in his book How to be a Detective, published in 1909.
Let’s Review
The idiom lone wolf is derived from the habit of a wolf pack separating during various periods, with one or two wolves moving off on their own to join or start a new pack.
When used figuratively, it describes a person who acts on their own or stays to themselves.