Definition of "forlorn" []

• Appearing sad or lonely because deserted or abandoned. (adjective)
• Forsaken or deprived: forlorn of all hope. (adjective)
• Wretched or pitiful in appearance or condition: forlorn roadside shacks. (adjective)
• Nearly hopeless; desperate. See Synonyms at despondent. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "PREVIOUS to the departure of Captain Overbury, Charlotte had solicited Mrs. Danby to reside entirely at her house, as long as she should be compelled to sustain what she termed her forlorn situation; and that lady, having readily acceded to the proposal, had wholly quitted her own habitation, and was now a constant resident with her daughter-in-law. —"
• "I saw my kind, our women with us, in forlorn hopes and lost endeavours, pent in hill fortresses, rotted in jungle fastnesses, cut down to the last one on the decks of rocking ships."
• "Related: In the Los Angeles Times, Queenan considers The Interpreter, The Constant Gardener and Blood Diamond: In each of these movies, beleaguered black folks marooned in forlorn, blood-drenched African nations get to see justice done because of the heroic efforts of some truly fabulous white people."