How to use forlorn in a sentence

23 example sentences · adjective, noun

Forlorn means abandoned, deserted, left behind. Example: “"Neon Gravestones" is a forlorn slow burn by Twenty One Pilots.”

Examples of forlorn by meaning

adjectiveAbandoned, deserted, left behind.

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

adjectivePitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.

Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.1921, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC; republished Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1925, →OCLC, page 67

adjectiveUnlikely to succeed; hopeless.

Now he rushed to the platform edge carrying a full fire bucket, in a forlorn attempt to douse the flames as the now brightly burning wagon rolled past.2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42

More sentences with forlorn

"Neon Gravestones" is a forlorn slow burn by Twenty One Pilots.From the entry slow burn
"Neon Gravestones" is a forlorn, slow-burning hip hop piano ballad.From the entry slow-burning
“It’s Joever,” joked one fan with an attached image of a forlorn President Joe Biden.2022 December 22, DJ Byrnes, “NFL world reacts to major Russell Wilson change”, in The Comeback, archived from the original on 30 Dec 2022. From the entry joever
The picture that springs to mind here might be one of an unwalked dog looking forlorn.2015, Alicia Eaton, Words That Work: How to Get Kids to do Anything, page 26. From the entry unwalked
Forlorn and diminishing, these pathetic gods still inhabit the American mythscape.2003, Richard Walsh, Reading the Gospels in the Dark, page 173. From the entry mythscape
No, Parkinson, I won't have you sacrificed in the forlorn hope of patching up my bungle.'1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries. From the entry bungle
She sounded so forlorn I knew something boyfriend-ish had happened.2007, Carol Shenold, Privy to Murder. From the entry boyfriend-ish
The fish-and-chipperies, the souvenir shops and the penny arcades look forlorn and winter hopeless, two steps from abandonment.2006, Joe Bennett, Mustn’t Grumble: An Accidental Return to England, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 215. From the entry fish-and-chippery
The streets had a dingy and forlorn look.1987, Richard Pool, “Prisoner of War”, in Course for Disaster: From Scapa Flow to the River Kwai, London: Leo Cooper, Heinemann, →ISBN…. From the entry lorry
The cat bird had a forlorn cry, like a whimpering child or the animal it is named for.1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 185. From the entry catbird
Good Teutonic Kitsch looks rather forlorn and out of place wearing a Bohemian háček over its shrunken hind quarters.1956, Morris Halle, editor, For Roman Jakobson, page 332. From the entry háček
Indeed, as I sat, forlorn, never having found my particular conspiracy of lemurs (how about that for a name for a group of lemurs?2018 February 8, Jeffrey T. Laitman, “The Search for the Intersection of Form and Function: Looking for Clues into What Has Determined…. From the entry conspiracy
In the old, good days in Dublin she used to pick up waifs and strays of forlorn doghood and take them to the Dogs' Home.1918, Dora Sigerson Shorter, The Sad Years. From the entry waifs and strays
Four years after, this military adventurer, who had given so much trouble, died in a mean tavern in Philadelphia, disgraced, unpitied, and forlorn.1902, John Lord, Beacon Lights of History, Volume XI. From the entry unpitied
Finally, on June 7, after steaming about in the vicinity of Cuba with some forlorn hope of gaining entry to a U.S. port, the ship began a return voyage.2014, Fred Schruers, “Living Here in Levittown”, in Billy Joel: The Definitive Biography, New York, N.Y.: Three Rivers Press, →ISBN, part…. From the entry forlorn hope
Dragged down in early winter from the top of the garden where they oversummer, they are placed on the front window sills looking sad and forlorn.2013, Alice Taylor, The Gift of a Garden, →ISBN. From the entry oversummer
Pangs of uncertainty spread through the ranks, for these men were the advance party, the "forlorn hope," on the attack of the British fortifications at Yorktown.2001, “The Purple Heart Legacy”, in editorial staff of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and Turner Publishing Company, compilers…. From the entry forlorn hope
Sherif Nasir led us: his lucent goodness, which provoked answering devotion even from the depraved, made him the only leader (and a benediction) for forlorn hopes.1922 (date written; published 1926), T[homas] E[dward] Lawrence, “Book IV: Extending to Akaba. Chapter XXXIX.”, in Seven Pillars of…. From the entry lucent
I sat at dinner, but satisfied myself with nibbling bread crusts, and witnessing the forlorn and perilous efforts of my friends to walk the line between starvation and acute indigestion.1914, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 13, in The Subterranean Brotherhood. From the entry walk the line

Meaning of forlorn

adjective Abandoned, deserted, left behind.
adjective Pitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
adjective Unlikely to succeed; hopeless.

Full definition of forlorn

Questions about forlorn in a sentence

How do you use forlorn in a sentence?: Forlorn is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “"Neon Gravestones" is a forlorn slow burn by Twenty One Pilots.”
What is a short sentence with forlorn?: “The streets had a dingy and forlorn look.”
What does forlorn mean?: Forlorn means abandoned, deserted, left behind.

Adapted from Wiktionary: forlorn (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use forlorn in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/forlorn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.