Link Centre Dictionary

forlorn

for·lorn

UK/fəˈlɔːn/ US/fɔːˈlɔːn/ uncommon obsolete

adjective

1.

pitiable in circumstances especially through abandonment

  • “desolate and despairing”
  • “left forlorn”
Synonyms
Similar
2.

marked by or showing hopelessness

  • “the last forlorn attempt”
  • “a forlorn cause”
Similar

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • forlorn hope

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.