forlorn

[ fawr-lawrn ]

adjective

1. desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.

   Synonyms: comfortless, woebegone, helpless, pitiable, pitiful

   Antonyms: happy

2. lonely and sad; forsaken.

   Synonyms: solitary, lost, alone

3. expressive of hopelessness; despairing:

   forlorn glances.

4. bereft; destitute:

   forlorn of comfort.

   Synonyms: deprived

forlorn

/ fəˈlɔːn /

adjective

1. miserable, wretched, or cheerless; desolate
2. deserted; forsaken
3. postpositivefoll byof destitute; bereft

   forlorn of hope

4. desperate

   the last forlorn attempt

Derived Forms

• forˈlornness, noun
• forˈlornly, adverb

Other Words From

• for·lornly adverb
• for·lornness noun
• unfor·lorn adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of forlorn¹

First recorded before 1150; Middle English foreloren “lost completely,” past participle of forlesen “to lose completely,” Old English forlēosan; cognate with Old High German firliosan ( German verlieren ), Gothic fraliusan; equivalent to for- + lorn

Word History and Origins

Origin of forlorn¹

Old English forloren lost, from forlēosan to lose; related to Old Saxon farliosan , Gothic fraliusan , Greek luein to release

Synonym Study

See desolate.

Example Sentences

Commentators who obsess over these numbers act shocked at just how forlorn the folks have become.

From Salon

By the time Podesta and Richmond had taken the stage, the party had stopped, people had left, and those who remained looked forlorn.

From Los Angeles Times

There were hopes in some quarters that DeSantis would moderate his policy thuggishness after his presidential campaign imploded in January, but his efforts to quash Amendment 4 suggests that the hope was forlorn.

From Los Angeles Times

If anyone has the leadership and baseball acumen to rebuild a forlorn franchise, it’s Washington.

From Los Angeles Times

It was a big call, made to look rather foolish when the Irishwoman trounced Ally Ewing 4&3 as Europe mounted their unlikely and ultimately forlorn fightback.

From BBC

Related Words

• depressed
• deserted
• desolate
• desperate
• despondent
• destitute
• helpless
• lonely
• miserable
• oppressed
• pathetic
• pitiful