lonely

English

Etymology

From lone +‎ -ly, or from an apheretic shortening of alonely. See lone.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈləʊn.li/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈloʊn.li/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

lonely (comparative lonelier, superlative loneliest)

1. Unhappy because of feeling isolated from contact with other people.
   • 1941, “At Last”, Mack Gordon, Harry Warren (music), performed by Glenn Miller, Ray Eberle (vocals), and Pat Friday (vocals):

     At last
     My love has come along
     My lonely days are over
     And life is like a song

   • 1956, “Heartbreak Hotel”, Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley (lyrics), performed by Elvis Presley:

     Well, since my baby left me,
     Well, I found a new place to dwell.
     Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street
     At Heartbreak Hotel.
     Where I'll be, I'll be so lonely, baby
     Well, I'm so lonely
     I'll be so lonely, I could die.

   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2. (of a place or time) Unfrequented by people; desolate.
   • 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods‎^[1], London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 2:

     Only to those to whom in lonely passes in the night the gods have spoken, leaning through the stars, to those that have heard the voices of the gods above the morning or seen Their faces bending above the sea, only to those hath it been given to see Sardathrion, to stand where her pinnacles gathered together in the night fresh from the dreams of gods.

3. (of a person) Without companions; solitary.

Synonyms

• (dejected): lonesome
• (unfrequented by people): desolate, desert, empty, unpeopled, unpopulated
• (without companions): solitary, alone, unaccompanied

Derived terms

• it's lonely at the top
• lonely-heart
• lonely-hearted
• lonely-hearts

 

Related terms

• lone
• loneliness

Translations

of person: unhappy by feeling isolated

• Arabic: وَحِيد (waḥīd), مُوحِش (mūḥiš)
• Armenian: միայնակ (hy) (miaynak)
• Azerbaijani: tənha (az), tək (az), yalnız (az), yalqız (az), fərd (az) (Classical)
• Bakhtiari: تک (tak)
• Bashkir: яңғыҙ (yañğıź)
• Belarusian: само́тны (samótny), адзіно́кі (adzinóki)
• Bengali: একাকী (ekaki)
• Bikol Central: makapungaw
• Bulgarian: само́тен (bg) (samóten)
• Catalan: solitari (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 寂寞 (zh) (jìmò)

• Czech: osamělý (cs) m
• Danish: ensom
• Dutch: eenzaam (nl), alleen (nl), allenig (nl), alleenig
• Esperanto: soleca
• Estonian: üksildane
• Faroese: einsamallur, eina, einsligur, einsamur
• Finnish: yksinäinen (fi)
• French: seul (fr) m
• Galician: solitario (gl) m
• German: einsam (de), alleinig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐρῆμος (erêmos)

• Hebrew: גַּלְמוּד (he) (galmud)
• Hindi: अकेला (hi) m (akelā), अकेली (hi) f (akelī)
• Hungarian: magányos (hu)
• Hunsrik: eensam
• Icelandic: einmana (is)
• Italian: solo (it) m, solitario (it) m, malinconico (it) m
• Japanese: 寂しい (ja) (さびしい, sabishii)
• Khmer: អបមាន (ʼɑpmiən), កំព្រាចិត្ត (kɑmpriəcəttɑɑ), អន្លង់អន្លោច (ʼɑɑnlŭəngʼɑɑnlooc)
• Korean: 외롭다 (ko) (oeropda), 고독하다 (ko) (godokhada)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: تەنھا (tenha), بێکەس (ckb) (bêkes)

• Latin: sōlitārius
• Lithuanian: vienišas m
• Macedonian: осамен (osamen), самотен (samoten)
• Malay: kesunyian (ms), kesepian (ms), keseorangan, terpencil
• Manchu: ᠯᠣᡴᡩᠣᡥᠣᠨ (lokdohon)
• Maori: aroaroā
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ensom (no)

  Nynorsk: einsam (nn)

• Old Prussian: ainaseīlingis
• Ottoman Turkish: یالڭز (yalñız)
• Persian: تنها (fa) (tanhâ), بی‌کس (bi-kas)
• Plautdietsch: eensiedlich
• Polish: samotny (pl)
• Portuguese: solitário (pt)
• Russian: одино́кий (ru) (odinókij)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaranach, uaigneach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: у̀са̄мљен

  Roman: ùsāmljen (sh)

• Slovak: osamelý
• Slovene: osamljen
• Spanish: solitario (es)
• Swedish: ensam (sv)
• Tagalog: nalalaiw
• Thai: เหงา (th) (ngǎo)
• Tibetan: གྲོགས་མེད་གཅིག་རྐྱང (grogs med gcig rkyang)
• Turkish: yalnız (tr), yapayalnız (tr), garip (tr), gariban (tr), kimsesiz (tr)
• Ukrainian: само́тній (samótnij)
• Vietnamese: cô đơn (vi), lẻ loi (vi)
• Yiddish: עלנט (elnt), איינזאַם (eynzam)

of place: desolate

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: osamělý (cs) m
• French: désert (fr), abandonné (fr)
• German: abgeschieden (de), einsam (de), öde (de), verlassen (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐρῆμος (erêmos)

• Italian: desolato (it) m, isolato (it) m
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ឯកោ (ʼaekao), វិជនដ្ឋាន (km) (vĭchnôdthan)
• Korean: 황량한 (hwangnyanghan)
• Malay: terpencil
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ensom (no)

• Portuguese: isolado (pt)
• Russian: одино́кий (ru) (odinókij), уединённый (ru) (ujedinjónnyj), безлю́дный (ru) (bezljúdnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonaranach, uaigneach
• Serbo-Croatian: ùsāmljen (sh), òsāmljen (sh)
• Spanish: desolado (es), desierto (es)
• Swedish: öde (sv)
• Thai: รกร้าง
• Turkish: ıssız (tr), tenha (tr)
• Ukrainian: відлю́дний (vidljúdnyj)
• Vietnamese: hoang tàn (vi)

solitary — see solitary

Anagrams

• Nolley