English edit

Etymology edit

love +‎ lorn

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

lovelorn (comparative more lovelorn, superlative most lovelorn)

  1. Abandoned or forsaken by one's lover; having constant bad luck in romance; desperate for love.
    • c. 1819-1820, John Keats, On Fame:
      Ye lovesick bards! repay her scorn for scorn; / Ye artists lovelorn! madmen that ye are, / Make your best bow to her and bid adieu / Then, if she likes it, she will follow you.
    • 1890, John Boyle O'Reilly, “A Tragedy”, in In Bohemia:
      A soft-breasted bird from the sea / Fell in love with the light-house flame; / And it wheeled round the tower on its airiest wing, / And floated and cried like a lovelorn thing;
  2. Unloved, bereft of love.
    Synonym: loveless

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

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Noun edit

lovelorn (plural lovelorns)

  1. A person who is lovelorn.
    • 1984, Alan Rudolph, Choose Me (motion picture), spoken by Nancy (Geneviève Bujold):
      And when there's a price involved, she can help others but - not herself. She gives advice to the lovelorn every day but she's never been in love herself. Or so I've heard.