motherless
Britishadjective
adverb
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.
And while Anglo-American lullabies are typically written in major keys, Gershwin chose a minor one—evoking the depth and dignity of such African-American spirituals as “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025
Jonathan Lethem, author of Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, discusses his stylistically ambitious new book.
From Slate • Oct. 1, 2023
Motherless children can attend special summer camps, for instance, or Mother’s Day retreats like those hosted by the Massachusetts-based non-profit EmpowerHer, which works with girls whose mothers have died.
From Seattle Times • May 10, 2023
Between the two, the spiritual “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” is deconstructed through a series of variations in which the theme never returns, and the ending is denied a clean resolution.
From New York Times • Mar. 2, 2021
Motherless candidates confused her, and in motherless elections she stayed at home.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
