Standard Lemma guide

forlornness

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The state or characteristic of being forlorn; sadness; loneliness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lonesomeness, misery, unhappiness, blueness, tristesse, mirthless, blues, crestfallenness, dejection, depression, despondency, distress, dolefulness, downheartedness, drearihead, forlornness, grief, heartsore, ill-being, infelicity, melancholia, melancholy, mishappiness, mourn, prosternation, regret, rue, ruth, sadness, sorrow, sorrowfulness, tristfulness, undelight, woe, woefare, wretchedness, ellingness, lonelihood, loneliness, monopathy

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: loneliness, desolation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sadness, unhappiness

History

Etymology

From Middle English forlorennesse, from Old English forlorenes (“state of being forlorn, perdition, destruction”), equivalent to forlorn + -ness.