Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Lonesome |
LonesomeAdjective1. Being the only one; single and isolated from others; "the lone doctor in the entire county"; "a lonesome pine"; "an only child"; "the sole heir"; "the sole example"; "a solitary instance of cowardice"; "a solitary speck in the sky". 2. Marked by dejection from being alone; "felt sad and lonely"; "the loneliest night of the week"; "lonesome when her husband is away"; "spent a lonesome hour in the bar". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "lonesome" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
Note: Lonesome \Lone"some\, adjective. [Comparative Lonesomer; superlative Lonesomest.]. (references) |
Synonyms: LonesomeSynonyms: lone(a) (adj), lonely (adj), lonesome(a) (adj), only(a) (adj), sole(a) (adj), solitary(a) (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Seclusion Exclusion | Solitary; lonely, lonesome; isolated, single. |
Unity | Lone, lonely, lonesome; desolate, dreary. insecable, |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Lonesome |
| English words defined with "lonesome": lone, lonely ♦ only ♦ sole, solitary. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "lonesome": Africa. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Well, we have a dog, and he was lonesome. That was the idea, wasn't it, Mummy (Another Thin Man; writing credit: Dashiell Hammett; Frances Goodrich) You could get lonesome being that busy (Funny Girl; writing credit: Isobel Lennart;) Well, here I am, all by my lonesome. And there ain't anybody gonna know (Platoon; writing credit: Oliver Stone) | |
Lyrics | Are you lonesome tonight, (Are You Lonesome Tonight?; performing artist: Elvis Presley) That lonesome feeling (Neon Moon; performing artist: Brooks & Dunn) Lonesome, lonely (Wasting My Time; performing artist: Default) So Take Me Down That Lonesome Road (When The Night Comes; performing artist: Joe Cocker) As we go down life's lonesome highway (Say You, Say Me; performing artist: Lionel Richie) | |
Clever | A city is a large community where people are lonesome together. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Trail of the Lonesome Pink (1974) Lonesome Housewife (1973) The Lonesome Cougar Charlie (1967) Lonesome Ranger (1966) Ride Lonesome (1959) | |
Song Titles | Cold Lonesome Wind (performing artist: Wayne Hancock) Long Gone Lonesome Blues (performing artist: Hank Williams Sr.) Lonesome Loser (performing artist: Little River Band) LONESOME TOWN (performing artist: Rick Nelson ) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Theater & Movies |
| ||
Music |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
![]() | Milo Brant had a feeling that he was lonesome and afraid. Credit: Library of Congress. | ![]() | "Look down, look down that lonesome road, before ... ". Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
![]() |
| "Lonesome Light" by Brendan Paxton Commentary: "Have you ever taken a picture in a dark room- of a light- possibly a lamp or a ceiling fan? Well it looks like it happened in this shot- but only it was a gorgeous day- and I guess there was a shadow on the film or something. Great for manipulation- I t" |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Author | Quotation |
Henry David Thoreau | City life is millions of people being lonesome together. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Gerald Ford | On occasion, but not often. It's a beautiful, beautiful residence, and people there make it so comfortable. And if you enjoy the challenges I don't think you ever really feel lonesome. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Lonesome" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 65.00% of the time. "Lonesome" is used about 40 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 65% | 26 | 68,323 |
| Noun (proper) | 35% | 14 | 93,893 |
| Total | 100.00% | 40 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "lonesome": by one's lonesome. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "lonesome": part-lonesome. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "lonesome"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | i vetmuar (bleak, cloistered, desolate, eremitic, lone, lonely, out of the way, private, privy, recluse, remote, retired, secluded, solitary), i vetëm (all, alone, lone, one, only, single, Singleton, sole, solitary, solo, sporadic, unaccompanied, unique, very), i shkretë (blessed, desert, deserted, desolate, devoid of inhabitants, inhospitable, lifeless, lonely, poor, waste, wild). (various references) | |
Arabic | مهجور (abandoned, antiquated, archaic, archaism, bygone, derelict, deserted, desolate, disused, forlorn, forsaken, in disuse, lonely, obsolete, outdated, outmoded, solitary, unfrequented), منعزل (bleak, downcast, hideaway, insulate, isolated, lone, lonely, private, quiet, recluse, retired, secluded, separate, separated, shy, solitary, withdrawn), موقع في النفس الوحشة, وحيد (alone, exclusive, lone, one, one and only, only, private, single, solitary, unique), شاعرة بالوحشة والوحدة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | унил (chap-fallen, crestfallen, dejected, down, hipped, low, low-spirited, mopish, subdued, vapory, vapoury), самотен (desolate, friendless, lone, lonely, lorn, secluded, single, solitary, unfriended), тъжен (bleak, cheerless, desolate, disconsolate, dismal, distressed, doleful, dull, dusky, elegiac, gloomy, heavy, joyless, lugubrious, melancholy, minor, mirthless, mournful, pensive, plaintive, sad, sick, sickly, sorrowful, tristful, wan, wistful, woebegone, woeful). (various references) | |
Chinese | 幽静, 寞 (nightmare, start in sleep), 寥 (empty, very few), 寂寞 (lonely), 寂 . (various references) | |
Czech | osamìlý (lone, lonely, quiet, solitary). (various references) | |
French | solitaire (lone, lonely). (various references) | |
German | einsam (alone, desert, empty, fantastic, forlorn, isolated, lone, lonely, lonesom, lonesomely, private, secluded, single handed, solitarily, solitary, unfrequented), allein (alon, alone, but, by itself, by oneself, exclusively, however, just, lonely, on its own, on smb.'s own, only, private, reclusive, single handed, sole, solely, solitary, unaccompanied, unaided, unassisted, unescorted). (various references) | |
Greek | έρημοσ (bleak, derelict, desert, desolate, forlorn, waste, wilderness), μονήρησ (lonely, retort, solitary), μοναχικός (lone, solitary), θλιμένοσ λόγω μοναξιάσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | גלמוד (barren, desolate, forlorn, lonely, solitary, sterile). (various references) | |
Hungarian | magányos (be lonely, cloistered, desolate, friendless, lone, lonely, recluse, remote, secluded, segregate, sequestered, solitary), társtalan (friendless, solitary), egyedülálló (alone, incomparable, lone, lonely, matchless, peerless, single, singular, unequaled, unique, unmatched). (various references) | |
Indonesian | kesepian (loneliness). (various references) | |
Italian | solo (alone, just, lone, lonely, mere, only, single, sole, solidly, solitary, unaccompanied, unique, very). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 寂しい (desolate, lonely, solitary). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | さびしい (desolate, lonely, solitary), さみしい (desolate, lonely, solitary), こころさびしい (lonely), りょうりょうたる (few, rare), らくばくたる (desolate, dreary). (various references) | |
Korean | 쓸쓸한. (various references) | |
Norwegian | ensom (dreary, gaunt, immense, lonely, remote). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | onesomelay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | triste (bleak, blue, broken-hearted, cheerless, dark, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dreary, dumpish, dumpy, gaunt, gloomily, gray, grey, joyless, lugubrious, melancholy, mirthless, miserable, misty, moody, mopish, mourning, pained, painful, pensive, piteous, sad, saturnine, somber, sombre, sore, sorrowful, sorry, tearful, tristful, unhappy, upset), solitário (alone, cloistered, desolate, lone, lonely, lorn, recluse, secluded, sole, solitaire, solitary, unfrequented, wild), só (alone, barely, but, cloistered, exclusively, just, lone, lonely, lorn, mere, only, single, sole, solitary), isolado (alone, cloistered, cloistral, insulator, isolated, lone, particular, recluse, secluded, separate, sequestered, sole, solitary, special, sporadic, straggling, strayed). (various references) | |
Romanian | singur (a, alone, by, by oneself, herself, himself, isolated, itself, lone, lonely, mateless, naked, only, single, sole, solely, solitary, solo, yourself, yourselves), izolat (apart, detached, isolated, lonely, out of the way, private, remote, removed, retired, scattered, secluded, seclusive, segregate, separate, sequestered, solitary, unfrequented), cuprins de dor. (various references) | |
Russian | вызывающий тоску, одиноко одинокий (lonely). (various references) | |
Scottish | uaigneach (melancholy, secret), tiamhaidh (dismal, eerie, gloomy, melancholy). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | usamljen (forlorn, friendless, lone, lonely, lorn, solitary, unfrequented), samotan (cloistral, lone, unfrequented). (various references) | |
Spanish | solitario (alone, desolate, isolated, lone, lonely, obscure, patience, recluse, seclusive, solitaire, solitary). (various references) | |
Swedish | enslig (lone, lonely, secluded, solitary), ensam (alone, desolate, lone, lonely, lorn, on one's own, only, private, single handed, singly, sole, solely, solitary, unaided, unattended). (various references) | |
Thai | หงอยเหงา. (various references) | |
Turkish | yapayalnız (all alone, lonely, solitarily), yalnız (alone, by yourself, exclusively, isolated, just, lone, lonely, merely, on one's tod, only, private, single handed, singly, sole, solitarily, solitary, unaccompanied, unattended). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | усамітнений (cloistered, secluded, sequestered, withdrawn), одинокий (alone). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | vắng vẻ (desert, deserted, lonely, solitary), hiu quạnh cô đơn (lonely), cô độc (lonely, solitary), bơ vơ (desolate, helpless, lone, lonely). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "lonesome": lonesomely, lonesomeness, lonesomenesses, lonesomes. (additional references) | |
| |
"Lonesome" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Honesom, luanisone, onesimos, Onesimus. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "lonesome" (pronounced lō"nsum) |
| 4 | -n s u m | ransom, burdensome, handsome, hansom, transom, winsome. |
| 3 | -s u m | adventuresome, awesome, Balsam, blossom, bothersome, meddlesome, nettlesome, opossum, possum, quarrelsome, buxom, cataclysm, cumbersome, fearsome, flotsam, foursome, fulsome, gruesome, gypsum, irksome, loathsome, Maxim, threesome, tiresome, troublesome, twosome, venturesome, wearisome, wholesome, worrisome. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: oenomels. | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-l-m-n-o-o-s" | |
-1 letter: oenomel, someone. | |
-2 letters: lemons, leones, loosen, melons, osmole, solemn. | |
-3 letters: enols, lemon, lenes, lenos, lense, leone, looms, loons, loose, melon, mense, mesne, meson, moles, monos, mools, moons, moose, neems, noels, nolos, nomes, nomos, noose, oleos, omens, osmol, semen, snool, solon. | |
-4 letters: eels, elms, else, emes, enol, eons, lees, leno, lens, lone, loom, loon, loos. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-l-m-n-o-o-s" | |
+1 letter: lonesomes, melodeons, monostele. | |
+2 letters: lonesomely, melanosome, menologies, monosteles, nucleosome, somnolence. | |
+3 letters: emotionless, holoenzymes, melanosomes, mellophones, mesocyclone, monostelies, myelogenous, nucleosomes, somnolences, teleonomies, unwholesome. | |
+4 letters: demonologies, enterostomal, entomologies, enzymologies, gloominesses, lampooneries, lonesomeness, longshoremen, longsomeness, melanophores, mesocyclones, nematologies, nonemployees, numerologies, semicolonies, toilsomeness. | |
+5 letters: ceremoniously, conglomerates, emotionalizes, emotionlessly, endotheliomas, entomophilies, homogeneously, loathsomeness, melodiousness, metallophones, mononucleoses, nonpetroleums, prolegomenous, salmonelloses, sedimentology, terminologies, unwholesomely, wholesomeness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Spoken 11. Usage Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.