Standard Lemma guide

lonely

adj · 5 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.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈləʊnli/
  • General-American: /ˈloʊnli/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˈləʉnli/
  • New-Zealand: /ˈlɐʉnli/
  • Caribbean, South-Asia: /ˈloːnli/
  • General-South-African: /ˈlœʊnli/
  • rhymes with -əʊnli
  • CMU ARPABET: L OW1 N L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unhappy due to feeling isolated from contact with other people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Unfrequented by people; desolate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Without companions; solitary.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective satellite

Meaning 4

marked by dejection from being alone

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • felt sad and lonely
  • the loneliest night of the week
  • lonesome when her husband is away
  • spent a lonesome hour in the bar

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lonesome

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

devoid of creatures

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a lonely crossroads
  • a solitary retreat
  • a trail leading to an unfrequented lake

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: solitary, unfrequented

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From lone + -ly, or from an apheretic shortening of alonely. See lone.

Across languages

Translations

131 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Amharic: ብቸኛ (bəčäña) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Arabic: وَحِيد (waḥīd) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Arabic: مُوحِش (mūḥiš) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Armenian: միայնակ (miaynak) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Azerbaijani: tənha — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Azerbaijani: tək — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Azerbaijani: yalnız — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Azerbaijani: yalqız — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Azerbaijani: fərd — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Bakhtiari: تک (tak) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Bashkir: яңғыҙ (yañğıź) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Belarusian: само́тны (samótny) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Belarusian: адзіно́кі (adzinóki) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Bengali: একাকী (ekaki) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Central Bikol: makapungaw — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Bulgarian: само́тен (samóten) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Catalan: solitari — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Chinese Mandarin: 寂寞 (jìmò) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Chinese Mandarin: 孤獨 /孤独 (gūdú) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Czech: osamělý — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Danish: ensom — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Dutch: eenzaam — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Dutch: alleen — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Dutch: allenig — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Dutch: alleenig — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Esperanto: soleca — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Estonian: üksildane — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Faroese: einsamallur — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Faroese: eina — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Faroese: einsligur — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Faroese: einsamur — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Finnish: yksinäinen — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • French: seul — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Galician: solitario — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • German: einsam — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • German: alleinig — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Ancient Greek: ἐρῆμος (erêmos) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Hebrew: גַּלְמוּד (galmud) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Hindi: अकेला (akelā) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Hungarian: magányos — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Hunsrik: eensam — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Icelandic: einmana — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Italian: solo — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Italian: solitario — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Italian: malinconico — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Japanese: 寂しい (sabishii) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Khmer: អបមាន (ʼɑɑpmiən) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Khmer: កំព្រាចិត្ត (kɑmpriəcettɑɑ) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Khmer: អន្លង់អន្លោច (ʼɑɑnlŭəngʼɑɑnlooc) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Korean: 외롭다 (oeropda) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Korean: 고독하다 (godokhada) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Central Kurdish: تەنھا (tenha) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Central Kurdish: بێکەس (bêkes) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Latin: sōlitārius — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Lithuanian: vienišas — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Macedonian: осамен (osamen) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Macedonian: самотен (samoten) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Malay: kesunyian — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Malay: kesepian — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Malay: keseorangan — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Malay: terpencil — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Malay: sepi — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Manchu: ᠯᠣᡴᡩᠣᡥᠣᠨ (lokdohon) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Māori: aroaroā — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ensom — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: einsam — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Old Prussian: ainaseīlingis — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Persian: تنها (tanhâ) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Persian: بیکس (bi-kas) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Plautdietsch: eensiedlich — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Polish: samotny — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Portuguese: solitário — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Russian: одино́кий (odinókij) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Scottish Gaelic: aonaranach — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Scottish Gaelic: uaigneach — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Serbo-Croatian: у̀са̄мљен — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Serbo-Croatian: ùsāmljen — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Slovak: osamelý — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Slovene: osamljen — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Spanish: solitario — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Spanish: solo — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Swedish: ensam — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Tagalog: nalalaiw — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Thai: เหงา (ngǎo) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Tibetan: གྲོགས་མེད་གཅིག་རྐྱང (grogs med gcig rkyang) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Turkish: yalnız — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Turkish: yapayalnız — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Turkish: garip — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Turkish: gariban — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Turkish: kimsesiz — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Ottoman Turkish: یالڭز (yalñız) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Ukrainian: само́тній (samótnij) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Unami: sinkòmàlsi — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Vietnamese: cô đơn — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Vietnamese: lẻ loi — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Yiddish: עלנט (elnt) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Yiddish: איינזאַם (eynzam) — of person: unhappy by feeling isolated
  • Chinese Mandarin: 荒蕪 /荒芜 (huāngwú) — of place: desolate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 人跡罕至 /人迹罕至 (rénjìhǎnzhì) — of place: desolate
  • Chinese Mandarin: 孤寂 (gūjì) — of place: desolate
  • Czech: osamělý — of place: desolate
  • Dutch: afgelegen — of place: desolate
  • Finnish: autio — of place: desolate
  • French: désert — of place: desolate
  • French: abandonné — of place: desolate
  • German: abgeschieden — of place: desolate
  • German: einsam — of place: desolate
  • German: öde — of place: desolate
  • German: verlassen — of place: desolate
  • Ancient Greek: ἐρῆμος (erêmos) — of place: desolate
  • Italian: desolato — of place: desolate
  • Italian: isolato — of place: desolate
  • Khmer: ឯកោ (ʼaekao) — of place: desolate
  • Khmer: វិជនដ្ឋាន (vĭchnôdthan) — of place: desolate
  • Korean: 황량하다 (hwangnyanghada) — of place: desolate
  • Malay: terpencil — of place: desolate
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ensom — of place: desolate
  • Portuguese: isolado — of place: desolate
  • Russian: одино́кий (odinókij) — of place: desolate
  • Russian: уединённый (ujedinjónnyj) — of place: desolate
  • Russian: безлю́дный (bezljúdnyj) — of place: desolate
  • Scottish Gaelic: aonaranach — of place: desolate
  • Scottish Gaelic: uaigneach — of place: desolate
  • Serbo-Croatian: ùsāmljen — of place: desolate
  • Serbo-Croatian: òsāmljen — of place: desolate
  • Swedish: öde — of place: desolate
  • Thai: รกร้าง — of place: desolate
  • Turkish: ıssız — of place: desolate
  • Turkish: tenha — of place: desolate
  • Ukrainian: відлю́дний (vidljúdnyj) — of place: desolate
  • Vietnamese: hoang tàn — of place: desolate
Real reading context

lonely in complete knowledge articles