# lonely

Pronunciation: say "LOHN-lee" US /ˈloʊnli/, UK /ˈləʊnli/, AUS /ˈləʉnli/

## Adjective

1. Feeling unhappy because of a sense of being cut off from contact with other people.
   - Simple: Feeling sad because you are alone and wish other people were with you.
   - _He grew lonely after months of living by himself in the quiet apartment._
   - _Many elderly people feel lonely when their families live far away._
2. Existing or moving alone, without any companions or other people accompanying one.
   - Simple: Being by yourself, with no other people or companions around.
   - _The lighthouse keeper led a lonely existence on the rocky island._
   - _A lonely figure crossed the empty square just after midnight._
3. Visited by few or no people; remote and desolate.
   - Simple: Far away from people, with almost no one ever going there.
   - _A lonely stretch of coastline ran for miles without a single house._
   - _The path wound through lonely hills where few travelers ever came._

## Origin

Formed from "lone" plus the suffix "-ly," or possibly from a shortened form of "alonely."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lonely (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).