forlorn
Syllables: for·lornUK/fəˈlɔːn//fɚˈlɔɹn/
forlorn adjective: abandoned, deserted, left behind. Also the past participle of forlese.
Adjective
forlorn (comparative forlorner or more forlorn, superlative forlornest or most forlorn)
- Abandoned, deserted, left behind.
- For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.1578–1579, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale. [...] Dedicated to the Right Honorable the Ladie Compton and Mountegle”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the...
- Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull.c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas...
- Synonyms:
- desolate, forsaken, peopleless, abandoned, derelict, desert, deserted, discarded, dropped, high and dry
- Pitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
- For here forlorn and loſt I tread, / With fainting ſteps and ſlow; / Where wilds immeaſurably ſpread, / Seem lengthening as I go.1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “A Ballad”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 70
- This is the Maiden all forlorn, That milked the Cow with the crumpled Horn[.]1784, The House that Jack Built, page 8
- Synonyms:
- despondent, forsaken, lonesome, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen
- Unlikely to succeed; hopeless.
- To begin therefore with Traditions, which is your forlorn hope that in the first place we are to set upon: this must I needs tell you before we begin, that you much mistake the matter, if you think that traditions of all sorts promiscuously are struck at by our religion.1625, James Ussher, “Of Traditions”, in An Ansvver to a Challenge Made by a Iesuite in Ireland. Wherein the Iudgment of Antiquity in the Points Questioned, is Truly Delivered, and the Noveltie of the...
- Well! It is a forlorn hope at the best, and not much the forlorner for being delayed till dark.1859, Charles Dickens, “Dusk”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book III (The Track of a Storm), page 226
- Synonyms:
- despairful, desperate
Noun
forlorn (plural forlorns)
- A forlorn hope.
- The Regiment being drawn up into the former Figure, they may proceed to Firings upon it, firſt let the Forlorns fire five or six times over, being commanded by the eldeſt Captains Lieutenant, who is to be aſſiſted by a couple of able Serjeants; after let him wheel off to the right and left, and...1659, Richard Elton, “Severall Firings to be Performed upon the Former Figure, and how to be Mannaged by the Severall Officers”, in The Compleat Body of the Art Military: Exactly Compiled, and...
- […] I ordered the forlorns to advance and to march, at their open order, towards the upland, and by this time the tide was upon the ground wee ſtood on: The forlorn were no ſooner advanced a few rods, before there was firing on both ſides; […]1765, [Thomas] Hutchinson, “[Appendix.] Number XXI. Major Walley’s Journal in the Expedition against Canada in 1692. A Narrative of the Proceedings to Canada, soe far as Concerned the Land Army.”, in...
- A member of a forlorn hope.
Also used as
forlorn is also the past participle of forlese.
forlorn meaning in Telugu, Arabic and Malay
forlorn in Telugu
- abandoned, deserted, left behind
- అనాథ anātha
forlorn in Arabic
- miserable
- مَنْبُوذ manbūḏ
forlorn in Malay
- miserable
- kesepian
Examples of forlorn in a sentence
- The ornate canopy supports are overdue a repaint, and the closed cafe gives the place a forlorn air.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in RAIL, page 67:
- As with tunnels, so much effort was made to conquer the landscape, yet so many now stand forlorn.2025 November 26, Tim Dunn, “Lost and found: historical assets”, in RAIL, number 1049, page 55:
- The condition of the besieged, in the mean time, was forlorn in the extreme; not so much from want of food, though their supplies were scanty, as from excessive toil and exposure.1857, William H[ickling] Prescott, “War with France. 1557.”, in History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, new edition...
- Sweet are familiar songs, tho' Music dips / Her hollow shell in Thought's forlornest wells: / And sweet, tho' sad, the sound of midnight bells, / When the oped casement with the night-rain drips.1859, Owen Meredith [pseudonym; Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton], “The Wanderer”, in Poems by Owen Meredith. The Wanderer and...
Synonyms of forlorn
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- left behind
- orphaned
- despondent
- lonesome
- atrabiliary
- atrabilious
- blitheless
- dispirited
- blue
- bummed out
- chapfallen
- cheerless
- chopfallen
- crestfallen
- cut up
- damp
- dejected
- depressed
- disgruntled
- disconsolate
- disheartened
- dismal
- doleful
- dolesome
- down
- down in the dumps
- down in the mouth
- downcast
- downhearted
- downsome
Forms of forlorn
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | forlorner |
| comparative | more forlorn |
| superlative | forlornest |
| superlative | most forlorn |
| alternative form | forlorne |
| Noun | |
| plural | forlorns |
Origin of forlorn
From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan (“to lose”)), from Proto-Germanic *fraluzanaz (“lost”), past participle of Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną (“to lose”), equivalent to for- + lorn. Cognate with West Frisian ferlern (“lost”), Saterland Frisian ferlädden (“lost”), Dutch verloren (“lost”), German Low German verloren (“lost”), German verloren (“lost”), Swedish förlorad (“lost”). See further at lese/leese, lorn.
Words formed from forlorn
- forlornity
- forlornling
- forlornly
- forlornness
- unforlorn
Phrases with forlorn
Words that rhyme with forlorn
Questions about forlorn
- What does forlorn mean?
- Forlorn means abandoned, deserted, left behind.
- What is forlorn in Telugu?
- Forlorn in Telugu is అనాథ (anātha). See Forlorn meaning in Telugu.
- How do you use forlorn in a sentence?
- The ornate canopy supports are overdue a repaint, and the closed cafe gives the place a forlorn air.
- What part of speech is forlorn?
- Forlorn can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce forlorn?
- Forlorn is pronounced /fəˈlɔːn/ (UK).
Words near forlorn in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forlorn (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-forlorn.ogg, en-au-forlorn.ogg.
Cite this entry: “forlorn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forlorn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.