lovelorn

comparative more lovelorn · superlative most lovelorn

1. Abandoned or forsaken by one's lover; having constant bad luck in romance; desperate for love.

   [Bhuvan, English captions, O Rey Chhori]: Even if Krishna were to meet a lovelorn Gopi in the grove...

   2001, Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, Ashutosh Gowariker, et al.

   3 more examples

   Ye lovesick bards! repay her scorn for scorn; / Ye artists lovelorn! madmen that ye are, / Make your best bow to her and bid adieu / Then, if she likes it, she will follow you.

   c. 1819-1820, John Keats, On Fame

   A soft-breasted bird from the sea / Fell in love with the light-house flame; / And it wheeled round the tower on its airiest wing, / And floated and cried like a lovelorn thing;

   1890, John Boyle O'Reilly, “A Tragedy”, in In Bohemia

   We should stop expecting that we are about to be treated well, like an overeager puppy always looking out for signs that their owner has relented and will take them out to the park after all. We have been the lovelorn dog long enough […]

   2022, On Self-Hatred: Learning to Like Oneself, The School of Life, →ISBN, page 101

2. Unloved, bereft of love.

   Synonyms: loveless

plural lovelorns

1. A person who is lovelorn.

   And when there's a price involved, she can help others but - not herself. She gives advice to the lovelorn every day but she's never been in love herself. Or so I've heard.

   1984, Alan Rudolph, Choose Me (motion picture), spoken by Nancy (Geneviève Bujold)