Word of the Day
Saturday, March 23, 2002
forlorn
\fur-LORN; for-\ , adjective;
1.
Sad and lonely because deserted, abandoned, or lost.
3.
Wretched or pitiful in appearance or condition.
4.
Almost hopeless; desperate.
Quotes:
Henry had felt guilty at abandoning his sister; he had married not once but twice, leaving Rose forlorn.
-- Anita Brookner, Visitors
In these forlorn regions of unknowable dreary space, this reservoir of frost and snow, where firm fields of ice, the accumulation of centuries of winters, glazed in Alpine heights above heights, surround the pole, and concentre the multiplied rigours of extreme cold.
-- Francis Spufford, I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination
Bloch remembers that Stephen was a member of the Milk Squad, comprised of children who were considered to need extra nutrition, and early photographs do show him as one of the smaller boys, in the front row, looking forlorn.
-- Meryle Secrest, Stephen Sondheim: A Life
Origin:
Forlorn comes from Old English forleosan, "to abandon," from for- + leosan, "to lose."
Previous
Words of the Day
Get Word of the Day
Free Email Sign Up
SMS-Text WDAY to 44636.
Standard messaging rates apply
x
