forlorn

5 definitions found

forlorn - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Forlorn \For*lorn"\, a. [OE., p. p. of forlesen to lose utterly,
     AS. forle['o]san (p. p. forloren); pref. for- + le['o]san (in
     comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw.
     f["o]rlora, Dan. forloren, Goth. fraliusan to lose. See
     For-, and Lorn, a., Lose, v. t.]
     1. Deserted; abandoned; lost.
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              Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn. --Spenser.
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              Some say that ravens foster forlorn children.
                                                    --Shak.
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     2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched;
        miserable; almost hopeless; desperate.
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              For here forlorn and lost I tread.    --Goldsmith.
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              The condition of the besieged in the mean time was
              forlorn in the extreme.               --Prescott.
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              She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still
              living.                               --Thomson.
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     A forlorn hope [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or
        troop; verloren, p. p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band;
        akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body
        of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen  posten
        ) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a
        breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other
        extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case
        or enterprise.
  
     Syn: Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary;
          helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched;
          miserable; pitiable.
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  Forlese \For*lese"\, v. t. [p. p. Forlore, Forlorn.] [OE.
     forlesen. See Forlorn.]
     To lose utterly. [Obs.] --haucer.
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  Forlorn \For*lorn"\, n.
     1. A lost, forsaken, or solitary person.
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              Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn. --Shak.
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     2. A forlorn hope; a vanguard. [Obs.]
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              Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the
              enemy.                                --Oliver
                                                    Cromvell.
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forlorn - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  forlorn
      adj 1: marked by or showing hopelessness; "the last forlorn
             attempt"; "a forlorn cause"

forlorn - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :

  75 Moby Thesaurus words for "forlorn":
     abandoned, affording no hope, alone, apathetic, bereft, bleak,
     cheerless, comfortless, cynical, defenseless, dejected, depressed,
     deserted, desolate, desole, despairing, desperate, despondent,
     desponding, disconsolate, dismal, dispirited, dolorous, down,
     fatherless, forgotten, forsaken, friendless, fruitless, futile,
     gloomy, glum, godforsaken, grim, heartsick, heartsore, helpless,
     homeless, hopeless, in despair, inconsolable, joyless, kithless,
     lonely, lonesome, lost, low-spirited, lugubrious, melancholy,
     miserable, motherless, mournful, neglected, oppressed, outcast,
     pathetic, pessimistic, pitiable, pitiful, sad, shunned, sick,
     sick at heart, solitary, sorrowful, soul-sick, unconsolable,
     unfriended, unhappy, unhopeful, vain, without hope, woebegone,
     woeful, wretched