loneliness

lone‧ly S3 /ˈləʊnli $ ˈloʊn-/ BrE AmE adjective (comparative lonelier, superlative loneliest)
1. unhappy because you are alone or do not have anyone to talk to SYN lonesome American English:
a lonely old man
Don’t you get lonely being on your own all day?
► Do not use lonely to mean ‘without anyone else’. Use alone: She is afraid to travel alone (NOT travel lonely).
2. a lonely experience or situation makes you unhappy because you are alone or do not have anyone to talk to:
a lonely journey
lonely life/existence
He led a lonely life with few friends.
3. the lonely [plural] people who are lonely
4. a lonely place is a long way from where people live and very few people go there SYN lonesome American English, remote, desolate
lonely place/road/spot etc
—loneliness noun [uncountable]
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ lonely (also lonesome American English) unhappy because you are alone or do not have any friends: Tammy felt very lonely when she first arrived in New York. | Our neighbor George is a very lonely man. | I get so lonesome here with no one to talk to.
▪ isolated lonely because your situation makes it difficult for you to meet people: People caring for sick relatives often feel very isolated. | Children of very rich parents can grow up isolated from the rest of society.
▪ alienated feeling that you do not belong in a particular place or group: She felt very alienated as the only woman in the company. | In high school she felt somehow different and alienated from other students.
▪ homesick unhappy because you are a long way from your home and the people who live there: When I first went to Germany, I was very homesick.
▪ miss somebody used when saying that you feel unhappy because someone is not there with you: I miss you. | She misses her friends.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

loneliness

lone·li·ness [ˈləʊnlinəs] ; [ˈloʊnlinəs] noun uncountable
• a period of loneliness in his life

Main entry: lonely_derived

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

loneliness / ˈləʊn.li.nəs / / ˈloʊn- / noun [ U ]

C1 the state of being lonely

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

loneliness

[lo͟ʊnlinəs]
N-UNCOUNT
Loneliness is the unhappiness that is felt by someone because they do not have any friends or do not have anyone to talk to.
I have so many friends, but deep down, underneath, I have a fear of loneliness.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

lonely

lone·ly /ˈloʊnli/ adj lone·li·er; -est [also more ~; most ~]
1 : sad from being apart from other people
• He was/felt lonely without his wife and children.
• a lonely old man
• feeling lonely
• She was a lonely child with few friends.
2 : causing sad feelings that come from being apart from other people
• It was lonely living out in the country.
• She spent too many lonely nights at home.
• She had a lonely childhood.
• It's lonely at the top. [=powerful and successful people often have few friends]
3 : not visited by or traveled on by many people
• a lonely spot in the woods
• a lonely stretch of road
- lone·li·ness /ˈloʊnlinəs/ noun [noncount]