forlorn hope

noun

1

: a body of men selected to perform a perilous service

2

: a desperate or extremely difficult enterprise

Examples of forlorn hope in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This was perhaps understandable in the immediate days after the vote, as Casey entertained the forlorn hope that outstanding mail-in and absentee ballots in populous Democratic-leaning counties would disproportionately break in his favor. — The Editors, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024

This seems a forlorn hope in light of continuing government hostility to the BBC and the wider attack on public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom. — Simon J. Potter, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2023

The study strongly suggests that relying on military rapid response units to save diplomats is a forlorn hope. — Michael Peck, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2021

Japan had gambled on a forlorn hope of a short war, but found itself in a trap of its own making that involved a long war of attrition waged against the world's leading industrial power. — Jeremy Hsu, Discover Magazine, 21 Aug. 2017

Word History

Etymology

by folk etymology from Dutch verloren hoop, literally, lost band

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for forlorn hope

• antelope
• bronchoscope
• cantaloupe
• cystoscope
• endoscope
• envelope
• epitope
• gyroscope
• horoscope
• isotope
• microscope
• misanthrope