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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

for·lorn

[fawr-lawrn] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	desolate or dreary; unhappy or miserable, as in feeling, condition, or appearance.

2.	lonely and sad; forsaken.

3.	expressive of hopelessness; despairing: forlorn glances.

4.	bereft; destitute: forlorn of comfort.

[Origin: bef. 1150; ME foreloren (ptp. of forlesen to lose completely), OE forloren (ptp. of forléosan); c. OHG firliosan (G verlieren), Goth fraliusan. See for-, lorn

]

—Related forms

for·lorn·ly, adverb

for·lorn·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. pitiful, pitiable, helpless, woebegone, comfortless. 2. alone, lost, solitary. See desolate. 4. deprived.

—Antonyms 1. happy. 2. accompanied.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

for·lorn (fər-lôrn', fôr-) Pronunciation Key
adj.

1. Appearing sad or lonely because deserted or abandoned.
2. Forsaken or deprived: forlorn of all hope.
Wretched or pitiful in appearance or condition: forlorn roadside shacks.
Nearly hopeless; desperate. See Synonyms at despondent.

[Middle English forloren, past participle of forlesen, to abandon, from Old English forlēosan; see leu- in Indo-European roots.]

for·lorn'ly adv., for·lorn'ness n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
forlorn

1154, "depraved," pp. of obsolete forlesan "be deprived of, lose, abandon," from O.E. forleosan, from for- "completely" + leosan "to lose" (see lose). In the Mercian hymns, L. perditionis is glossed by O.E. forlorenisse. Originally "forsaken, abandoned;" sense of "wretched, miserable" first recorded 1582. Commonly in forlorn hope (1579), which is a partial translation of Du. verloren hoop, in which hoop means "troop, band," lit. "heap," and the sense of the whole phrase is of a suicide mission. The phrase is usually used incorrectly in Eng., and the misuse has colored the sense of forlorn.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

forlorn
adjective
marked by or showing hopelessness; "the last forlorn attempt"; "a forlorn cause"

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Forlorn

For*lorn"\, a. [OE., p. p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forle['o]san (p. p. forloren); pref. for- + le['o]san (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. f["o]rlora, Dan. forloren, Goth. fraliusan to lose. See For-, and Lorn, a., Lose, v. t.]

1. Deserted; abandoned; lost.

Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn. --Spenser.

Some say that ravens foster forlorn children. --Shak.

2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.

For here forlorn and lost I tread. --Goldsmith.

The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme. --Prescott.

She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living. --Thomson.

A forlorn hope [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p. p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise.

Syn: Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Forlorn

For*lorn"\, n. 1. A lost, forsaken, or solitary person.

Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn. --Shak.

2. A forlorn hope; a vanguard. [Obs.]

Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the enemy. --Oliver Cromvell.

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