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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