forlorn

for·lorn

adjective \fər-ˈlȯrn, fȯr-\

Definition of FORLORN

1

a : bereft, forsaken <left quite forlorn of hope>

b : sad and lonely because of isolation or desertion : desolate <a forlorn landscape>

2

: being in poor condition : miserable, wretched <forlorn tumbledown buildings>

3

: nearly hopeless <a forlorn attempt>

— for·lorn·ly adverb

— for·lorn·ness \-ˈlȯrn-nəs\ noun

Examples of FORLORN

1. <she was forlorn when she found out the trip had been cancelled>
2. <a forlorn wanderer far from home>
3. Against the forlorn backdrop of the muddy terrain the media circus has left behind, the young mother is photographed for a fashion spread wearing a … white dress. —James Wolcott, Vanity Fair, September 1998
4. There is nothing quite so forlorn as a closed factory—Vic Wilcox knows, having supervised a shutdown himself in his time. —David Lodge, Nice Work, 1990
5. Like Ozymandias, once king of kings but now two legs of a broken statue in Percy Shelley's desert, the great facade of Union Station in Washington, D.C., stands forlorn … —Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History, November 1986

Origin of FORLORN

Middle English forloren, from Old English, past participle of forlēosan to lose, from for- + lēosan to lose — more at lose

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to FORLORN

Synonyms

bad, blue, brokenhearted, cast down, crestfallen, dejected, depressed, despondent, disconsolate, doleful, down, downcast, downhearted, down in the mouth, droopy, sad, gloomy, glum, hangdog, heartbroken, heartsick, heartsore, heavyhearted, inconsolable, joyless, low, low-spirited, melancholic, melancholy, miserable, mournful, saddened, sorrowful, sorry, unhappy, woebegone, woeful, wretched

Antonyms

blissful, buoyant, buoyed, cheerful, cheery, chipper, delighted, glad, gladdened, gladsome, gleeful, happy, joyful, joyous, jubilant, sunny, upbeat

Related Words

aggrieved, distressed, troubled, uneasy, unquiet, upset, worried; despairing, hopeless, sunk; disappointed, discouraged, disheartened, dispirited; suicidal; dolorous, lachrymose, lugubrious, plaintive, tearful; regretful, rueful; agonized, anguished, grieving, wailing, weeping; black, bleak, cheerless, comfortless, dark, darkening, depressing, desolate, dismal, drear, dreary, elegiac (also elegiacal), funereal, gray (also grey), morbid, morose, murky, saturnine, somber (or sombre), sullen

Near Antonyms

ecstatic, elated, enraptured, entranced, euphoric, exhilarated, exuberant, exultant, overjoyed, rapturous, rhapsodic (also rhapsodical); blithe, blithesome, jocose, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, lightsome, merry, mirthful; excited, thrilled; hopeful, optimistic, rosy, sanguine; encouraged, heartened; animated, bouncing, energetic, frisky, jaunty, lively, peppy, perky, spirited, sprightful, sprightly, springy, vital, vivacious, zippy; content, gratified, pleased, satisfied; beaming, grinning, laughing, smiling; boon, carefree, careless, cavalier, devil-may-care, easygoing, happy-go-lucky, insouciant, lighthearted, unconcerned

See Synonym Discussion at alone

Rhymes with FORLORN

acorn, adorn, airborne, althorn, baseborn, bass horn, bicorne, blackthorn, blue corn, boxthorn, broomcorn, buckthorn, bullhorn, careworn, Christ's-thorn, Dearborn, dehorn, dent corn, earthborn, einkorn, field corn, firethorn, firstborn, flint corn, foghorn, forewarn, forworn, freeborn, French horn, green corn, greenhorn, hartshorn, hawthorn, highborn, hulled corn, inborn, inkhorn, krummhorn, leghorn, longhorn, lovelorn, lowborn, newborn, outworn, pod corn, popcorn, post horn, pronghorn, ramshorn, reborn, saxhorn, seaborne, self-born, shipborne, shoehorn, shopworn, shorthorn, skyborne, soilborne, stillborn, stinkhorn, suborn, sweet corn, tick-borne, timeworn, tinhorn, toilworn, tricorne, trueborn, twice-born, twinborn, unborn, unworn, wayworn, wellborn, well-worn, wind-borne