Forlorn


[fawr-lawrn] /fɔrˈlɔrn/

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.
/fəˈlɔːn/
adjective
1.
miserable, wretched, or cheerless; desolate
2.
deserted; forsaken
3.
(postpositive) foll by of. destitute; bereft: forlorn of hope
4.
desperate: the last forlorn attempt
adj.

mid-12c., forloren “disgraced, depraved,” past participle of obsolete forlesan “be deprived of, lose, abandon,” from Old English forleosan “to lose, abandon, let go; destroy, ruin,” from for- “completely” + leosan “to lose” (see lose). In the Mercian hymns, Latin perditionis is glossed by Old English forlorenisse.

Sense of “forsaken, abandoned” is 1530s; that of “wretched, miserable” first recorded 1580s. A common Germanic compound (cf. Old Saxon farilosan, Old Frisian urliasa, Middle Dutch verliesen, Dutch verliezen, Old High German virliosan, German verlieren, Gothic fraliusan “to lose”).

Commonly in forlorn hope (1570s), which is a partial translation of Dutch verloren hoop, in which hoop means “troop, band,” literally “heap,” and the sense of the whole phrase is of a suicide mission. The phrase is usually used incorrectly in English, and the misuse has colored the sense of forlorn. Related: Forlornly; forlornness.

Read Also:

  • Forlorn-hope

    noun 1. a perilous or desperate enterprise. 2. a vain hope. 3. Obsolete. a group of soldiers assigned to perform some unusually dangerous service. noun 1. a hopeless or desperate enterprise 2. a faint hope 3. (obsolete) a group of soldiers assigned to an extremely dangerous duty

  • Forlornly

    [fawr-lawrn] /fɔrˈlɔrn/ 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. /fəˈlɔːn/ adjective 1. miserable, wretched, or cheerless; desolate 2. deserted; forsaken 3. (postpositive) foll by of. destitute; bereft: forlorn of hope […]

  • Forlornness

    [fawr-lawrn] /fɔrˈlɔrn/ 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. /fəˈlɔːn/ adjective 1. miserable, wretched, or cheerless; desolate 2. deserted; forsaken 3. (postpositive) foll by of. destitute; bereft: forlorn of hope […]

  • For love or money

    see: not for love or money

  • Formability

    [fawr-muh-bil-i-tee] /ˌfɔr məˈbɪl ɪ ti/ noun 1. the capacity of a material, as sheet steel, to be readily bent, stamped, shaped, etc.


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