lost
Americanadjective
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no longer possessed or retained.
lost friends.
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no longer to be found.
lost articles.
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having gone astray or missed the way; bewildered as to place, direction, etc..
lost children.
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not used to good purpose, as opportunities, time, or labor; wasted.
a lost advantage.
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being something that someone has failed to win.
a lost prize.
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ending in or attended with defeat.
a lost battle.
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destroyed or ruined.
lost ships.
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He seems lost in thought.
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distracted; distraught; desperate; hopeless.
the lost look of a man trapped and afraid.
verb (used with or without object)
idioms
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get lost,
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to absent oneself.
I think I'll get lost before an argument starts.
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to stop being a nuisance.
If they call again, tell them to get lost.
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lost to,
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no longer belonging to.
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no longer possible or open to.
The opportunity was lost to him.
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insensible to.
lost to all sense of duty.
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adjective
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unable to be found or recovered
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unable to find one's way or ascertain one's whereabouts
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confused, bewildered, or helpless
he is lost in discussions of theory
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(sometimes foll by on) not utilized, noticed, or taken advantage of (by)
rational arguments are lost on her
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no longer possessed or existing because of defeat, misfortune, or the passage of time
a lost art
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destroyed physically
the lost platoon
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(foll by to) no longer available or open (to)
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(foll by to) insensible or impervious (to a sense of shame, justice, etc)
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(foll by in) engrossed (in)
he was lost in his book
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morally fallen
a lost woman
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damned
a lost soul
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informal (usually imperative) go away and stay away
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lost
First recorded in 1530–40, for the adjective
Explanation
The adjective lost describes anything that can't be found, like your favorite pair of sunglasses that you left on a table at the library and never saw again. Beloved hand-knit scarves can be lost, and so can wandering pet goats. A person can get lost in the unfamiliar, winding streets of a strange city. You can also describe someone as lost if they're confused or desperately in need of some kind of help. The origins of the word lost come from the Proto-Indo-European leu, "to loosen, untie, or separate". The meaning "to be defeated," like when you've lost a game or lost a battle, came later, around 1530.
Vocabulary lists containing lost
"Brothers in Hope"
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Unit 8
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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.
She was discovered by talent scout Roger Bell in a club in Swansea, and released her first single Lost in France in 1977.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
‘The Lost Boys,’ ‘Titanique’ and ‘Schmigadoon!’ are among the contenders for best musical, while the Pulitzer-winning ‘Liberation’ and the Roald Dahl bio-drama ‘Giant’ are in the running for best play.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Each day thousands of visitors pile into the area to hike through pristine jungle to white-sand beaches or to Colombia's mountaintop Lost City, which predates Peru's Machu Picchu.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
And even “The Lost Boys,” perhaps the most ambitious new musical of the season, takes its inspiration from a cult genre film that serves as a time capsule of the wicked 1980s.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
After a while some Lost Boys built us a simple shelter made of tall grass and leafy tree branches.
From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau
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.
