forlorn
A 1959 photograph of a forlorn boy (sense 2) mourning the sinking of his model boat in w:New Brighton, MerseysideNew Brighton, Merseyside, England, UK
Meanings
Adjective
- Abandoned, deserted, left behind.
- Pitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
- Unlikely to succeed; hopeless.
Noun
- A forlorn hope.
- A member of a forlorn hope.
Origin
- From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past tense participle of forlēosan), from Proto-Germanic *fraluzanaz ("lost"), past participle of Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną, equivalent to for- + lorn. Cognate with West Frisian ferlern ("lost"), Saterland Frisian ferlädden, Dutch verloren ("lost"), German Low German verloren,
- German verloren ("lost"), Swedish förlorad ("lost"). See further at lese/leese, lorn.
Modern English dictionary
Explore and search massive catalog of over 900,000 word meanings.
Word of the Day
Get a curated memorable word every day.
Challenge yourself
Level up your vocabulary by setting personal goals.
And much more
Try out Vedaist now.