Forlorn

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A lost, forsaken, or solitary person. Forced to live in Scotland a forlorn. Shak.

2. A forlorn hope; a vanguard. [Obs.] Our forlorn of horse marched within a mile of the enemy. Oliver Cromvell.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Deserted abandoned; lost. Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn. Spenser. Some say that ravens foster forlorn children. Shak.

2. Destitute; helpless; in pitiful plight; wretched; miserable; almost hopeless; desperate. For here forlorn and lost I tread. Goldsmith. The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme. Prescott. She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living. Thomson. A forlorn hope Etym: [D. verloren hoop, prop., a lost band or troop; verloren, p.p. of verliezen to lose + hoop band; akin to E. heap. See For-, and Heap.] (Mil.), a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verloren posten) selected, usually from volunteers, to attempt a breach, scale the wall of a fortress, or perform other extraordinarily perilous service; also, a desperate case or enterprise.

Synonyms: Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.