Miller of Dee
Someone who lives independently and unattached to others, especially for selfish reasons.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He lives like a Miller of Dee and cares for no one.”
“You behave like a Miller of Dee when you ignore your friends' problems.”
“A Miller of Dee does not care if the rest of the world suffers.”
“She acts like a Miller of Dee, ignoring her family to focus only on her own comfort.”
“He refuses to help his neighbors with the heavy lifting, preferring to live as a Miller of Dee who owes nothing to anyone.”
“The wealthy businessman became a Miller of Dee, spending his fortune on travel while cutting ties with his old community.”
“After winning the lottery, he moved to a private island to live like a Miller of Dee, far from any social responsibilities.”
“The hermit lived as a true Miller of Dee, content in his isolation and indifferent to the concerns of the village below.”
From the traditional English folk song Miller of Dee. The eponymous miller expresses a philosophy of solitary self-sufficiency, singing that he cares for nobody, if nobody cares for him. The phrase persists as a reference to this specific state of detached independence.
Last updated August 10, 2026