lonely

[lohn-lee]

adjective, lone·li·er, lone·li·est.

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.

standing apart; isolated: a lonely tower.

Origin of lonely

First recorded in 1600–10; lone + -ly

Related formslone·li·ly, adverblone·li·ness, lone·li·hood, nounun·lone·ly, adjective

Synonyms for lonely

4. uninhabited, unpopulated. 5. secluded.

Synonym study

1. See alone.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for lonelier

solitary, desolate, isolated, deserted, reclusive, homeless, lonesome, destitute, empty, remote, quiet, abandoned, alone, apart, disconsolate, down, forsaken, godforsaken, left, lone

Examples from the Web for lonelier

Contemporary Examples of lonelier

He describes himself as “lonelier, but wiser, with a bit of rage in me.”
Meet Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, aka L. Jinny, the Ali G of Evil
Olivia Nuzzi
August 26, 2014
I do not want to be lonely all my life,” she writes, “but people only make us lonelier by reminding us of God.
Flannery O’Connor’s Desire for God
Jen Vafidis
November 13, 2013
“We have never been more detached from one another, or lonelier,” writer Stephen Marche argued.
Camp Kivu’s Quest to Get Depressed Teens to Disconnect From Social Media
Nina Strochlic
November 5, 2012

Historical Examples of lonelier

Would that my hiding-place were lonelier, so that the past might not find me!
Footprints on the Sea-Shore (From "Twice Told Tales")
Nathaniel Hawthorne
She leaned over me as if I had been a lonely child and she a lonelier woman.
City of Endless Night
Milo Hastings
In a while she went away, and left him lonelier than before.
Despair's Last Journey
David Christie Murray
Summer was over, and the Glimmerglass was lonelier than ever.
Forest Neighbors
William Davenport Hulbert
There is probably no lonelier man in the parish than the constable.
Change in the Village
(AKA George Bourne) George Sturt

British Dictionary definitions for lonelier

lonely

adjective -lier or -liest

unhappy as a result of being without the companionship of othersa lonely man

causing or resulting from the state of being alonea lonely existence

isolated, unfrequented, or desolate

without companions; solitary

Derived Formsloneliness, noun

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

Word Origin and History for lonelier

lonely

adj.

c.1600, "solitary, lone," from lone + -ly (1). Meaning "dejected for want of company" is from 1811. Lonely heart (n.) "a lonely-hearted person" is from 1922. Lonely hearted (adj.) is attested from 1820.