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forlorn

[ fawr-lawrn ]
/ fɔrˈlɔrn /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR forlorn

adjective

desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.
lonely and sad; forsaken.
expressive of hopelessness; despairing: forlorn glances.
bereft; destitute: forlorn of comfort.

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Origin of forlorn

before 1150; Middle English foreloren (past participle of forlesen to lose completely), Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan); cognate with Old High German firliosan (German verlieren), Gothic fraliusan.See for-, lorn

ANTONYMS FOR forlorn

1 happy.
2 accompanied.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR forlorn

synonym study for forlorn

2. See desolate.

OTHER WORDS FROM forlorn

for·lorn·ly, adverbfor·lorn·ness, nounun·for·lorn, adjective

Words nearby forlorn

fork out, fork over, fork-tender, forky, Forlì, forlorn, forlorn hope, for love or money, form, formability, Formad's kidney
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to forlorn

lonely, pathetic, depressed, oppressed, despondent, deserted, desolate, desperate, miserable, helpless, destitute, pitiful, abandoned, alone, bereft, blue, cheerless, cynical, defenseless, despairing

Example sentences from the Web for forlorn

British Dictionary definitions for forlorn

forlorn
/ (fəˈlɔːn) /

adjective

miserable, wretched, or cheerless; desolate
deserted; forsaken
(postpositive foll by of) destitute; bereftforlorn of hope
desperatethe last forlorn attempt

Derived forms of forlorn

forlornly, adverbforlornness, noun

Word Origin for forlorn

Old English forloren lost, from forlēosan to lose; related to Old Saxon farliosan, Gothic fraliusan, Greek luein to release
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012