For·lorn 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 Mil., a body of men (called in F. enfants perdus, in G. verlornen 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.
Syn: -- Destitute, lost; abandoned; forsaken; solitary; helpless; friendless; hopeless; abject; wretched; miserable; pitiable.