Antonyms for forlorn

Grammar : Adj

Spell : fawr-lawrn

Phonetic Transcription : fɔrˈlɔrn

Definition of forlorn

Origin : 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.

adj hopeless, inconsolable

Example sentences :

She had had a forlorn hope that he would throw down the sheet; but he did not.
Extract from : « Quaint Courtships » by Various

These men were as forlorn and miserable as my self, death grinning in our faces at every turn.
Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper

Altogether, the appearance of the individual was forlorn and miserable.
Extract from : « The Last of the Mohicans » by James Fenimore Cooper

There were forlorn hollows under his eyes; now he looked twice his age.
Extract from : « Tiverton Tales » by Alice Brown

That he might be; but he was not so forlorn as to roam away and leave them together.
Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens

The forlorn smile with which she said it, so touched him, that tears started from his eyes.
Extract from : « A Tale of Two Cities » by Charles Dickens

He was not old, not alone and forlorn and cumbering the earth.
Extract from : « Four Girls and a Compact » by Annie Hamilton Donnell

She was a widow, had just lost her father, with whom she lived, and was very miserable and forlorn.
Extract from : « The Coryston Family » by Mrs. Humphry Ward

Poor, poor, forlorn girl—it was thus she begged and supplicated, but he denied her.
Extract from : « Gomez Arias » by Joaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso

I came here with a wild sort of forlorn hope you could forgive.
Extract from : « The Law-Breakers » by Ridgwell Cullum

Synonyms for forlorn

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019