adj.1 sad and abandoned or lonely.
2 in a pitiful state; of wretched appearance.
3 desperate, hopeless, forsaken.
Phrases and idioms:
forlorn hope
1. a faint remaining hope or chance.
2 a desperate enterprise.
Derivatives:
forlornly adv. forlornness n.
Etymology: past part. of obs. forlese f. OE forleosan (as FOR-, LOSE): forlorn hope f. Du. verloren hoop lost troop, orig. of a storming-party etc.