Mingle vs. Single — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Maham Liaqat — Updated on April 25, 2024
Mingle involves interacting or mixing with a group, often socially, while single denotes a state of being alone or solitary.
Difference Between Mingle and Single
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Mingle typically refers to the act of mixing or interacting socially with others, such as at a party or gathering. On the other hand, single often describes a person not in a romantic relationship or emphasizing individuality in a particular context.
Mingling is often a dynamic activity that involves meeting new people and engaging in conversations. Whereas being single can be a static state where social interactions are not necessarily focused on establishing romantic connections but maintaining personal space.
In social settings, to mingle means to blend or combine with a group, facilitating exchange and communication. On the other hand, single individuals may choose to remain distinct or separate from such interactions, focusing on solitude or personal activities.
Mingling can create opportunities for networking and building relationships, which can be beneficial in both personal and professional contexts. In contrast, being single can offer the freedom and independence to pursue personal interests without the obligations that come with a partnership.
While mingling often requires adaptability and openness, being single can allow an individual to develop self-reliance and personal strength, showcasing the varied benefits of both states depending on one’s personal or situational needs.
ADVERTISEMENT
Comparison Chart
Definition
To mix or engage with others in a social setting
Not being part of a couple or not involved romantically
Social context
Typically involves groups and gatherings
Can be experienced in solitude or in a crowd, but alone
Relationship emphasis
Interpersonal interactions and connections
Self-dependency and personal identity
Potential outcomes
Networking, friendships, relationships
Independence, self-discovery, personal growth
Typical scenarios
Parties, social gatherings, networking events
Solo activities, individual hobbies, personal time
Compare with Definitions
Mingle
To mix or associate with others.
She loves to mingle at parties and meet new people.
Single
Unmarried or not involved in a romantic relationship.
He has been single for a few years now.
Mingle
To combine or blend into a cohesive whole.
The artist mingled various styles to create something unique.
Single
Unique and separate from others.
Each single snowflake has its own pattern.
Mingle
To come into contact and interact.
At the conference, participants mingled during breaks.
Single
Alone or solitary.
She prefers to travel single to feel more free.
Mingle
To become part of a larger group.
The new employee mingled with her colleagues to feel more comfortable.
Single
Consisting of one part or element.
He bought a single ticket to the show.
Mingle
To involve or engage in a group activity.
He mingled with the guests during the event.
Single
Not accompanied by others.
She attended the party single, without bringing a friend.
Mingle
To mix or bring together in combination
A breeze that mingles the sea air with the scent of pines.
Love that is mingled with grief.
Single
Only one; not one of several
The kingdom was ruled over by a single family
A single red rose
Mingle
To be or become mixed or united
The children's voices mingled in the hall.
Single
Consisting of one part
The studio was a single large room
Mingle
To associate or take part with others
The faculty mingled with the trustees.
Single
Free from duplicity or deceit; ingenuous
A pure and single heart
Mingle
(transitive) To intermix; to combine or join, as an individual or part, with other parts, but commonly so as to be distinguishable in the product
Single
An individual person or thing rather than part of a pair or a group.
Mingle
(transitive) To associate or unite in a figurative way, or by ties of relationship
Single
A hit for one run.
Mingle
To cause or allow to intermarry
Single
(especially in tennis and badminton) a game or competition for individual players, not pairs or teams.
Mingle
To intermarry.
Single
A system of change-ringing in which one pair of bells changes places at each round.
Mingle
(transitive) To deprive of purity by mixture; to contaminate.
Single
Choose someone or something from a group for special treatment
One newspaper was singled out for criticism
Mingle
(transitive) To make or prepare by mixing the ingredients of.
Single
Thin out (seedlings or saplings)
Hand hoes are used for singling roots
Mingle
To put together; to join.
Single
Reduce (a railway track) to a single line
The South Western line was singled west of Salisbury
Mingle
(intransitive) To become mixed or blended.
Single
Hit a single
Cohen singled to centre
Mingle
(intransitive) To socialize with different people at a social event.
Single
Not accompanied by another or others; solitary.
Mingle
(obsolete) A mixture.
Single
Consisting of one part, aspect, or section
A single thickness.
A single serving.
Mingle
The act of informally meeting numerous people in a group
Single
Having the same application for all; uniform
A single moral code for all.
Mingle
To mix; intermix; to combine or join, as an individual or part, with other parts, but commonly so as to be distinguishable in the product; to confuse; to confound.
There was . . . fire mingled with the hail.
Single
Consisting of one in number
She had but a single thought, which was to escape.
Mingle
To associate or unite in society or by ties of relationship; to cause or allow to intermarry; to intermarry.
The holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands.
Single
Not divided; unbroken
A single slab of ice.
Mingle
To deprive of purity by mixture; to contaminate.
A mingled, imperfect virtue.
Single
Separate from others; individual and distinct
Every single child will receive a gift.
Mingle
To put together; to join.
Single
Having individual opponents; involving two individuals only
Single combat.
Mingle
To make or prepare by mixing the ingredients of.
[He] proceeded to mingle another draught.
Single
Honest; undisguised
A single adoration.
Mingle
To become mixed or blended.
Single
Wholly attentive
You must judge the contest with a single eye.
Mingle
To associate (with certain people); as, he's too highfalutin to mingle with working stiffs.
Single
Designed to accommodate one person or thing
A single bed.
Mingle
To move (among other people); - of people; as, the president left his car to mingle with the crowd; a host at a a party should mingle with his guests.
Single
Not married or involved in a romantic relationship
Once he knew she was single, he asked her to go out.
Mingle
A mixture.
Single
Relating to a state of being unmarried or uninvolved in a romantic relationship
Enjoys the single life.
Mingle
To bring or combine together or with something else;
Resourcefully he mingled music and dance
Single
(Botany) Having only one rank or row of petals
A single flower.
Mingle
Get involved or mixed-up with;
He was about to mingle in an unpleasant affair
Single
One that is separate and individual.
Mingle
Be all mixed up or jumbled together;
His words jumbled
Single
Something capable of carrying, moving, or holding one person or thing at a time, as a bed or a hotel room.
Single
A person who is not married or involved in a romantic relationship.
Single
Singles Such persons considered as a group
A bar for singles.
Single
A one-dollar bill.
Single
A phonograph record, especially a forty-five, having one song on each side.
Single
A song on one of these sides.
Single
A song, often from a full-length album or compact disc, that is released for airplay.
Single
(Baseball) A hit enabling the batter to reach first base. Also called one-bagger, one-base hit.
Single
A hit for one run in cricket.
Single
A golf match between two players.
Single
Often singles A tennis or badminton match between two players.
Single
Singles A competition in which individuals compete against each other, as in rowing or figure skating.
Single
To cause (a base runner) to score or advance by hitting a single
Singled him to second.
Single
To cause the scoring of (a run) by hitting a single.
Single
To hit a single.
Single
Not accompanied by anything else; one in number.
Can you give me a single reason not to leave right now?
The vase contained a single long-stemmed rose.
Single
Not divided in parts.
The potatoes left the spoon and landed in a single big lump on the plate.
Single
Designed for the use of only one.
A single room
Single
Performed by one person, or one on each side.
A single combat
Single
Not married, and (in modern times) not dating or without a significant other.
Forms often ask if a person is single, married, divorced, or widowed. In this context, a person who is dating someone but who has never married puts "single".
Josh put down that he was a single male on the dating website.
Single
(botany) Having only one rank or row of petals.
Single
(obsolete) Simple and honest; sincere, without deceit.
Single
Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
Single
(obsolete) Simple; foolish; weak; silly.
Single
(music) A 45 RPM vinyl record with one song on side A and one on side B.
Single
(music) A popular song released and sold (on any format) nominally on its own though usually having at least one extra track.
The Offspring released four singles from their most recent album.
Single
One who is not married or does not have a romantic partner.
He went to the party, hoping to meet some friendly singles there.
Single
(cricket) A score of one run.
Single
(baseball) A hit in baseball where the batter advances to first base.
Single
(dominoes) A tile that has a different value (i.e. number of pips) at each end.
Single
A bill valued at $1.
I don't have any singles, so you'll have to make change.
Single
(UK) A one-way ticket.
Single
(Canadian football) A score of one point, awarded when a kicked ball is dead within the non-kicking team's end zone or has exited that end zone.
Single
A game with one player on each side, as in tennis.
Single
One of the reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
Single
A handful of gleaned grain.
Single
A floating-point number having half the precision of a double-precision value.
Single
(film) A shot of only one character.
Single
A single cigarette.
Single
Synonym of single-driver.
Single
To identify or select one member of a group from the others; generally used with out, either to single out or to single (something) out.
Eddie singled out his favorite marble from the bag.
Yvonne always wondered why Ernest had singled her out of the group of giggling girls she hung around with.
Single
(baseball) To get a hit that advances the batter exactly one base.
Pedro singled in the bottom of the eighth inning, which, if converted to a run, would put the team back into contention.
Single
(agriculture) To thin out.
Single
(of a horse) To take the irregular gait called singlefoot.
Single
To sequester; to withdraw; to retire.
Single
To take alone, or one by one; to single out.
Single
(transitive) To reduce (a railway) to single track.
Single
One only, as distinguished from more than one; consisting of one alone; individual; separate; as, a single star.
No single man is born with a right of controlling the opinions of all the rest.
Single
Alone; having no companion.
Who single hast maintained,Against revolted multitudes, the causeOf truth.
Single
Hence, unmarried; as, a single man or woman.
Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.
Single chose to live, and shunned to wed.
Single
Not doubled, twisted together, or combined with others; as, a single thread; a single strand of a rope.
Single
Performed by one person, or one on each side; as, a single combat.
These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant, . . . Who now defles thee thrice ti single fight.
Single
Uncompounded; pure; unmixed.
Simple ideas are opposed to complex, and single to compound.
Single
Not deceitful or artful; honest; sincere.
I speak it with a single heart.
Single
Simple; not wise; weak; silly.
He utters such single matter in so infantly a voice.
Single
To select, as an individual person or thing, from among a number; to choose out from others; to separate.
Dogs who hereby can single out their master in the dark.
His blood! she faintly screamed her mindStill singling one from all mankind.
Single
To sequester; to withdraw; to retire.
An agent singling itself from consorts.
Single
To take alone, or one by one.
Men . . . commendable when they are singled.
Single
To take the irrregular gait called single-foot; - said of a horse. See Single-foot.
Many very fleet horses, when overdriven, adopt a disagreeable gait, which seems to be a cross between a pace and a trot, in which the two legs of one side are raised almost but not quite, simultaneously. Such horses are said to single, or to be single-footed.
Single
A unit; one; as, to score a single.
Single
The reeled filaments of silk, twisted without doubling to give them firmness.
Single
A handful of gleaned grain.
Single
A game with but one player on each side; - usually in the plural.
Single
A hit by a batter which enables him to reach first base only.
Single
A base hit on which the batter stops safely at first base
Single
The smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number;
He has the one but will need a two and three to go with it
They had lunch at one
Single
Hit a one-base hit
Single
Existing alone or consisting of one entity or part or aspect or individual;
Upon the hill stood a single tower
Had but a single thought which was to escape
A single survivor
A single serving
A single lens
A single thickness
Single
Used of flowers having usually only one row or whorl of petals;
Single chrysanthemums resemble daisies and may have more than one row of petals
Single
Characteristic of or meant for a single person or thing;
An individual serving
Separate rooms
Single occupancy
A single bed
Single
Having uniform application;
A single legal code for all
Single
Not divided among or brought to bear on more than one object or objective;
Judging a contest with a single eye
A single devotion to duty
Undivided affection
Gained their exclusive attention
Single
Involved two individuals;
Single combat
Single
Individual and distinct;
Pegged down each separate branch to the earth
A gift for every single child
Common Curiosities
Does being single affect social status?
Being single does not inherently affect social status; perceptions can vary based on cultural and personal values.
What does it mean to mingle socially?
To mingle socially means to interact and mix with others at social events or gatherings.
Can someone who is single still mingle?
Yes, individuals who are single can and often do mingle for social, professional, or personal reasons.
How does one benefit from being single?
Being single offers opportunities for personal growth, independence, and self-discovery.
Can mingling lead to finding a romantic partner?
Yes, mingling can lead to meeting potential romantic partners by expanding social circles.
Is mingling necessary for professional success?
Mingling can be very beneficial for professional success as it helps in building networks and connections.
Are there any specific ways to mingle effectively?
Effective mingling involves active listening, open body language, and showing genuine interest in others.
What activities are best for someone who is single?
Activities that foster personal development, such as hobbies, fitness, and creative pursuits, are great for singles.
What does it mean to be single in a legal sense?
Legally, being single means not being married or in a civil partnership.
What are the advantages of mingling?
Advantages include expanded social networks, increased opportunities, and enhanced social skills.
How can one feel more comfortable mingling?
Feeling more comfortable can be achieved by preparing topics to discuss, setting personal goals for interactions, and practicing in smaller, less intimidating settings.
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Paster vs. PastorNext Comparison
Total vs. TotalityAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Maham Liaqat