MEANING
An unhappy feeling caused by lacking the companionship or personal connection you want.
Use it for
describing loneliness after a loved one dies; showing someone feeling disconnected in a crowd; portraying a painful lack of companionship; distinguishing unwanted isolation from peaceful solitudeNames the painful lack of desired connection, distinguishing it from chosen solitude or merely being physically alone. Writing functions: Emptiness / Absence.
Words that belong together
- profound loneliness
- a sense of loneliness
- feel loneliness
- loneliness after bereavement
On the page
Her loneliness was sharpest at dinner, when there was nobody to tell about the day.
Even among the mourners, he felt a loneliness he had never known at home.
Word forms
- Base
- loneliness
Usage notes
Uncountable noun: loneliness; a feeling of loneliness. Avoid a loneliness or plural lonelinesses in ordinary use; literary individuation is possible but not required. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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