Definition of "lonely" []

• Without companions; lone. (adjective)
• Characterized by aloneness; solitary. (adjective)
• Unfrequented by people; desolate: a lonely crossroads. (adjective)
• Dejected by the awareness of being alone. See Synonyms at alone. (adjective)
• Producing such dejection: the loneliest night of the week. (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.

• "I wish you could have a number one and be on top of the world, but you've heard the term lonely at the top."
• "According to Google Trends, "lonely" is the word entered most frequently by Internet users in Dublin, Ireland."
• "Telling people to go waste their money on a Bible with the promise of gold-paved streets if they cooporate, and threatening those that don't with eternal and unbearable burning in lonely darkness is ridiculous."