lost

[lawst, lost]

adjective

1. no longer possessed or retained.

   lost friends.

   Synonyms: past, former

2. no longer to be found.

   lost articles.

3. having gone astray or missed the way; bewildered as to place, direction, etc..

   lost children.

   Synonyms: missing, absent

4. not used to good purpose, as opportunities, time, or labor; wasted.

   a lost advantage.

5. being something that someone has failed to win.

   a lost prize.

6. ending in or attended with defeat.

   a lost battle.

7. destroyed or ruined.

   lost ships.

8. preoccupied; rapt.

   He seems lost in thought.

9. distracted; distraught; desperate; hopeless.

   the lost look of a man trapped and afraid.

verb (used with or without object)

1. simple past tense and past participle of lose.

lost

/ lɒst /

adjective

1. unable to be found or recovered

2. unable to find one's way or ascertain one's whereabouts

3. confused, bewildered, or helpless

   he is lost in discussions of theory

4. (sometimes foll by on) not utilized, noticed, or taken advantage of (by)

   rational arguments are lost on her

5. no longer possessed or existing because of defeat, misfortune, or the passage of time

   a lost art

6. destroyed physically

   the lost platoon

7. (foll by to) no longer available or open (to)

8. (foll by to) insensible or impervious (to a sense of shame, justice, etc)

9. (foll by in) engrossed (in)

   he was lost in his book

10. morally fallen

    a lost woman

11. damned

    a lost soul

12. informal,  (usually imperative) go away and stay away

Other Word Forms

• unlost adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of lost¹

First recorded in 1530–40, for the adjective

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. get lost,

   1. to absent oneself.

      I think I'll get lost before an argument starts.

   2. to stop being a nuisance.

      If they call again, tell them to get lost.

2. lost to,

   1. no longer belonging to.

   2. no longer possible or open to.

      The opportunity was lost to him.

   3. insensible to.

      lost to all sense of duty.

More idioms and phrases containing lost

• get lost
• he who hesitates is lost
• lose
• make up for lost time
• no love lost
• you've lost me

Example Sentences

Pynchon still hasn’t lost his nostalgia for Los Angeles, a place where he lived and wrote for a while in the ’60s and ’70s.

From Los Angeles Times

“One of the worst things is remembering when I went to pick my daughter up from the lower yard, enveloped by smoke and flames,” said Andrea Samulon, who lost her home in the fire.

From Los Angeles Times

Their son and his girlfriend of 25 years lost a smaller house on the same land, where they lived with their five children.

From Los Angeles Times

For instance, a majority of the 1,100 houses lost in the Carr fire remain vacant lots seven years later.

From Los Angeles Times

The Times found that of the nearly 22,500 homes lost in the Camp fire and California’s four other most destructive wildfires from 2017 to 2020, just 8,400, or 38%, have been rebuilt.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• absent 
• adrift 
• disoriented 
• hidden 
• invisible 
• misplaced www.thesaurus.com
• vanished www.thesaurus.com