lonely
Americanadjective
-
lonelier,
comparative
-
loneliest
superlative
-
affected with, characterized by, or causing a depressing feeling of being alone; lonesome.
-
destitute of sympathetic or friendly companionship, intercourse, support, etc..
a lonely exile.
-
lone; solitary; without company; companionless.
-
remote from places of human habitation; desolate; unfrequented; bleak.
a lonely road.
- Synonyms:
- unpopulated, uninhabited
-
standing apart; isolated.
a lonely tower.
- Synonyms:
- secluded
adjective
-
unhappy as a result of being without the companionship of others
a lonely man
-
causing or resulting from the state of being alone
a lonely existence
-
isolated, unfrequented, or desolate
-
without companions; solitary
Synonym Usage
See alone.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of lonely
Explanation
There are a few definitions of lonely but they all share the same qualities: solitude, the absence of human company, and not a lot of exciting stuff going on. If being alone makes you sad, that’s one definition of lonely: the depressing feeling you get when no one else is around. Being alone doesn’t have to be a bummer, and sometimes lonely simply means preferring to be by yourself, like the lonely poet who takes long walks in the woods. Mars is a lonely planet because no life can survive there, and on a cross country trip you’ll drive down many long and lonely roads.
Vocabulary lists containing lonely
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
For instance, people who felt lonely may have sought out more interaction, even when those encounters did not provide the support they needed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
Eighty-one percent of lonely adults also reported anxiety or depression.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
"I just hate the stigma of alone equalling lonely."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
He’s so isolated that his closest friend is a frenemy: Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, an equally lonely brute.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Then this lonely, exhausted man staggered in, looking as beaten as a Jack Russell who’d picked a fight with a Rottweiler.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
Naomi, 30, from Pembrokeshire, has spent more than a decade navigating non-monogamous relationships and said having a very good calendar is key and, ironically, the reality is far lonelier than people might expect.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
People who were lonelier were both more likely to interact with AI, and more likely to anthropomorphize it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
In her essay collection “The Age of Loneliness,” Laura Marris examines quiet conditions that our society doesn’t know have been lost and how we’re lonelier for those untold vanishings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
That stance is getting lonelier as hard- drive stocks continue their ascent.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
It seemed a lonelier sound than usual, as if it were echoing around an empty home.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
“I mean, sometimes the loneliest place for someone like that is in a crowded room,” Rausch observes in recognizing the sensitivity of a fellow introvert.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
Gen Z, it turns out, is the loneliest generation of them all, according to the 2025 Cigna Group report “Loneliness in America.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
Mike Alfred had become convinced by 2021 that he was on to a great idea: building huge data centers for bitcoin mining in some of the loneliest spots in Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
One may be the loneliest number, but No. 2 is what sent Shaquille O’Neal urgently mincing off the “Inside the NBA” stage last month while the cameras kept running.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
And when the time comes to die, I'll find the wildest, loneliest, most desolate spot there is.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
