lonely Hear it!

lonely definition

lonely (lōn′lē)

adjective lonelier -·lier, loneliest -·li·est

  1. alone; solitary
    1. standing apart from others of its kind; isolated
    2. unfrequented or uninhabited
  3. unhappy at being alone; longing for friends, company, etc.
  4. causing such a feeling

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

lonely Synonyms

lonely

modif.

  1. Without company

    forlorn, lonesome, solitary, lone, alone, abandoned, comfortless, forsaken, friendless, deserted, desolate, homeless, bereft, companionless, withdrawn, secluded, unattended, by oneself, empty, apart, unsocial, reclusive, anchoritic, troglodytic, single, lorn, rejected, unaccompanied, unbefriended, disconsolate, uncherished, unwanted, outcast, alienated, lonely-hearts; see also homesick.

    Antonyms accompanied, associated, social.

  2. Inaccessible or unfrequented

    remote, desolate, unfrequented, uninhabited; see isolated. See syn. study at alone.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

lonely Usage Examples

Adjective complement with noun phrase

  • feel: I'm afraid you must be feeling just a little bit lonely.

Modifying Another Word

  • desperately: I was like a fish out of water and desperately lonely.

Preposition: as

  • cloud: Materials and their properties - Air Travelers Wander lonely as a cloud through this attractive and informative website.

Modifies a noun

  • furrow: They didn't see us plow a lonely furrow in the Fourth under Harry Gregg.

Used with adjective complement

  • wander: Is it possible, I speculated, to wander lonely as a cloud in the Lake District in the middle of August?
lonely usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

lonely quotes

Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been, Lives in a dream. Waits at the window, wearing the facethat she keeps in a jar by the door, Who is it for? All the lonely people, where do they all come from?

-Paul

   Well since my baby left me I found a new place to dwell It's down at the end of lonely street At Heartbreak Hotel.

-Presley, Elvis Aaron

There is no looking-glass here and I don't know what I am like now. I remember watching myself brush my hair and how my eyes looked back at me. The girl I saw was myself and yet not quite myself. Long ago when I was a child and very lonely I tried to kiss her. But the glass was between usöhard, cold and misted over with my breath.Now they havetaken everything away.What am I doing in this place and who am I?

-Rhys,Jean pseudonym of  Ellen Gwendolen Rees Williams

lonely quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"lonely." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/lonely>

APA Style

lonely. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/lonely

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment