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forlorn - 5 dictionary results
for⋅lorn
[fawr-lawrn]
–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 forlēosan); c. OHG firliosan (G verlieren), Goth fraliusan. See for-, lorn
bef. 1150; ME foreloren (ptp. of forlesen to lose completely), OE forloren (ptp. of forlēosan); 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.
1. pitiful, pitiable, helpless, woebegone, comfortless. 2. alone, lost, solitary. See desolate. 4. deprived.
Antonyms:
1. happy. 2. accompanied.
1. happy. 2. accompanied.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To forlorn
for·lorn (fər-lôrn', fôr-) adj.
[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. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : forlorn
Spanish:
triste, melancólico, desolado,
German:
verzweifelt, verlassen,
Japanese:
わびしい
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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