# insular

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɪnsjələ/ · frequency rank #27,885

## Definitions
1. Of or being, pertaining to, situated on, or resembling an island or islands.
2. Separate or isolated from the surroundings; having little regard for others opinions or prejudices; provincial.
3. Having an inward-looking, standoffish, or withdrawn manner.
4. Relating to the insula in the brain.
5. Relating to insulin.
6. (often with a capital letter) Relating to the varieties of a language or languages spoken chiefly on islands. Insular Latin, Latin as it was spoken in Britain and Ireland. Insular Celtic, the Celtic languages of Britain, Ireland and also Brittany, as opposed to those spoken in mainland Europe other than Brittany. Insular Scandinavian, relating to the Icelandic and Faroese languages as opposed to the ones spoken in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin īnsulāris (“of or belonging to an island”), from īnsula (“an island”), of uncertain origin.

## Easily confused with
- **insult** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insular-vs-insult)
- **insulin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insular-vs-insulin)
- **insults** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insular-vs-insults)
- **insurer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insular-vs-insurer)
- **insulate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insular-vs-insulate)
- **insulator** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insular-vs-insulator)
- **insofar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/insofar-vs-insular)

## Common misspellings (10)
`innsular`, `insluar`, `inssular`, `insualr`, `insularr`, `insullar`, `insulra`, `inuslar`, `isnular`, `nisular`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/insular