Forlorn Meaning
/fəˈlɔːn/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjAbandoned, deserted, left behind.
adjPitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
Sentence Examples
She looks sorrowful and forlorn.
She and her uncle were sad and forlorn in their neglect and disgrace.
That is where this forlorn son was born.
CEFR Practice Quiz
After his dog ran away, the boy felt completely ____ and hopeless.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ kitten sat shivering in the pouring rain until a kind stranger finally rescued it.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English forlorn, forloren, from Old English forloren (past participle of forlēosan (“to lose”)), from Proto-Germanic *fraluzanaz (“lost”), past participle of Proto-Germanic *fraleusaną (“to lose”), equivalent to for- + lorn. Cognate with West Frisian ferlern (“lost”), Saterland Frisian ferlädden (“lost”), Dutch verloren (“lost”), German Low German verloren (“lost”), German verloren (“lost”), Swedish förlorad (“lost”). See further at lese/leese, lorn.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne."
— 1578–1579, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale. [...] Dedicated to the Right Honorable the Ladie Compton and Mountegle”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. Whereof the Next Page Maketh Mention, London: Imprinted for VVilliam Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head, published 1591, →OCLC:
"Some ſay that Rauens foſter forlorne children, / The vvhilſt their ovvne birds famiſh in their neſts: / Oh be to me though thy hard hart ſay no, / Nothing ſo kinde but ſomething pittifull."
— c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], signature D3, verso:
"More join us at Colwall and at the lovely station at Great Malvern, although the place is in need of some TLC nowadays. The ornate canopy supports are overdue a repaint, and the closed cafe gives the place a forlorn air."
— 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in RAIL, page 67:
"There are few sights that leave a railway lover more wistful than a desolate railway viaduct no longer carrying tracks. As with tunnels, so much effort was made to conquer the landscape, yet so many now stand forlorn."
— 2025 November 26, Tim Dunn, “Lost and found: historical assets”, in RAIL, number 1049, page 55:
"For here forlorn and loſt I tread, / With fainting ſteps and ſlow; / Where wilds immeaſurably ſpread, / Seem lengthening as I go."
— 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “A Ballad”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 70:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After his dog ran away, the boy felt completely ____ and hopeless.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ kitten sat shivering in the pouring rain until a kind stranger finally rescued it.