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loneliness

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From lonely +‎ -ness.

Pronunciation

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  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈloʊnlinəs/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

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loneliness (usually uncountable, plural lonelinesses)

  1. A feeling of depression resulting from being alone or from having no companions.
    Synonyms: ellingness, lonesomeness; see also Thesaurus:loneliness
    The loneliness resulting from the loss of loved ones, lack of purpose in life, and social discrimination is a real inner hell.
    • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia‎[1], London: T. Payne, et al, Volume 5, Book 10, Chapter 5, p. 274:
      Cecilia proposed to her the society of Henrietta, which, glad to catch at any thing that would break into her loneliness, she listened to with pleasure […]
    • 1948, Alan Paton, chapter 21, in Cry, the Beloved Country‎[2], New York: Scribner, page 154:
      We […] feel deep pity for a man who is condemned to the loneliness of being remarkable […]
    • 1997, Bob Dylan, “Marchin’ to the City”, in The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006‎[3]:
      Loneliness got a mind of its own
      The more people around, the more you feel alone
    • 2024 May 20, Alissa Wilkinson, “What We Lose When ChatGPT Sounds Like Scarlett Johansson”, in The New York Times‎[4], →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 June 2024:
      But if the point of living lies in relationships with other people, then it’s hard to think of A.I. assistants that imitate humans without nervousness. I don’t think they’re going to solve the loneliness epidemic at all.
  2. The condition or state of being alone or having no companions.
    Synonyms: aloneness, friendlessness; see also Thesaurus:solitude
    • 1645, John Milton, Tetrachordon‎[5], page 7:
      Hitherto all things that have bin nam’d, were approv’d of God to be very good: lonelines is the first thing which Gods eye nam’d not good […]
    • 1657, Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados, London: Humphrey Moseley, Dedicatory letter to the Bishop of Salisbury,[6]
      [I] was designing a piece of Landscape […] wherein I meant to expresse […] the beauties of the Vegetables, that do adorn that place, in the highest perfection I could: But presently after, being cast into Prison, I was deprived both of light and lonelinesse, two main helpers in that Art […]
    • 1837 February, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Treats of Oliver Twist’s Growth, Education, and Board”, in Oliver Twist; […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 20:
      Wretched as were the little companions in misery he was leaving behind, they were the only friends he had ever known; and a sense of his loneliness in the great wide world sank into the child’s heart for the first time.
  3. The state of being unfrequented or devoid of human activity (of a place or time).
    Synonym: unfrequentedness
    • 1794, Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, London: G.G. & J. Robinson, Volume 4, Chapter 3, p. 50,[7]
      […] as she sat at her bed-side, indulging melancholy reveries, which the loneliness of the hour assisted […]
    • 1877, Mayne Reid, chapter 4, in Gwen Wynn: A Romance of the Wye‎[8], volume 3, London: Tinsley Bros, page 34:
      In addition, the very loneliness of the road had its charm for him; since only at rare intervals is house seen by its side, and rarer still living creature encountered upon it.
    • 1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 5, in The Silver Chair‎[9], New York: Scholastic, published 1987, pages 57–58:
      The rest was all flat marsh. It would have been a depressing place on a wet evening. Seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness.
  4. (obsolete) A desire to be alone; disposition to solitude.

Translations

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