in a vacuum

In total isolation; having no interaction with or connection to other people, places, or actions. Your actions don't occur in a vacuum; they affect everyone else here, too! Being in such a remote, rural town can sometimes feel like living in a vacuum. Crippling anxiety like this doesn't just spring up in a vacuum. I think something traumatic happened to this little girl over the summer.

in a vacuum

COMMON If something exists or happens in a vacuum, it seems to exist or happen separately from the things that you would expect it to be connected with. Property values do not exist in a vacuum. The market value of a house can fall if the biggest employer in town closes or a noisy club opens next door. Such decisions do not occur in a political vacuum, but have serious political implications both at home and abroad.

do something in a ˈvacuum

do something alone or separately from other people, events, etc., especially when there should be a connection: No novel is written in a vacuum. There are always influences from past writers.