forlorn
fur-LORN
/fəˈlɔːn/
Pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely; unlikely to succeed or be fulfilled.
Combines loneliness, pathetic abandonment, and hopelessness.
The story behind the word. In Germanic languages, 'for-' meant completely and 'leosan' meant lose. Someone who was forlorn was 'completely lost' or utterly forsaken.
Word relationships
- abandoned: Abandoned emphasizes left behind without focusing on the internal pity felt.
- desolate: Desolate emphasizes physical or total emptiness.
- cherished: Cherished means deeply loved and cared for.
- befriended: Befriended means supported and accompanied by friends.
Commonly confused with
- forgetful: Forgetful means unable to remember, having no relation to forlorn.
Word family
- forlornly (adverb): In a pitifully sad and abandoned manner.
- forlornness (noun): The state of being forlorn.
Collocations
- forlorn hope
- forlorn figure
- forlorn look
- forlorn attempt
Idioms & expressions
- forlorn hope
Example sentences
- "Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self!" Poetic reference
- "A forlorn dog sat shivering by the closed door of the empty cottage." Descriptive prose
Memory hook
FORGOTTEN and ALONE on a lawn—looking pitifully forlorn. Pitifully abandoned and lonely.
When not to use
Do not use for energetic, angry rejections.
Fun facts
- The phrase 'forlorn hope' comes from Dutch 'verloren hoop' (lost troop)—soldiers sent on a near-suicidal frontline mission!
Related words
Also appears in
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