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. destitute; bereft

   forlorn of hope

4. desperate

   the last forlorn attempt

Other Word Forms

• forlornly adverb
• forlornness noun
• unforlorn 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

The tried and true route for Colombian traffickers is from the country’s Caribbean coastline, including towns near Panama and forlorn communities to the far northeast next to Venezuela.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Eight months ago, England were forlorn and distraught on the vast, imposing outfield of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Read more on BBC

Eyes forlorn, the 72-year-old cut the figure of someone who had seen years of suffering and hardship.

Read more on BBC

Receivers in hand, they’re reaching out--at all hours of the day and night, from nearly every continent on the globe--to make contact with this forlorn desert outpost.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That Love identified no sadness in the songs only makes it easier to understand why Wilson the lonely young pop star was writing tunes as openly forlorn as “In My Room.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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