Forlorn

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

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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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