# forlorn

> English word · Adjective · IPA /fəˈlɔːn/ · frequency rank #35,723

## Definitions
1. Abandoned, deserted, left behind.
2. Pitifully sad, wretched, miserable; lonely, especially from feeling abandoned, deserted, forsaken.
3. Unlikely to succeed; hopeless.

## Etymology
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.

## Common misspellings (11)
`fforlorn`, `folrorn`, `forllorn`, `forlonr`, `forlornn`, `forlorrn`, `forlron`, `forolrn`, `forrlorn`, `frolorn`, `ofrlorn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/forlorn