What Sad Mood Overcomes You Today?

Today I saw a television ad in which a person held up a sign that said “I feel alone.”

That got me thinking: Is alone a feeling or a state of being? Wouldn’t the correct word by lonely?

I got out my trusty Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary and found a series of words that are synonyms, yet each conveys something different.

Alone does, in fact, mean “separated from others.” It stresses that objective fact and pays little mind to emotion.

Lonely, meanwhile, implies a longing for companionship.

Other sort-of synonyms include solitary, which often indicates isolation: He loves his solitary life. It also suggests sadness and a sense of loss: He was left solitary by his wife’s death.

Lonesome increases the suggestion of sadness: An only child often lives a lonesome life.

Forlorn stresses dejection, woe and listlessness when separated from someone dear: The forlorn lost child could not be consoled until he reunited with his mother.

Finally, desolate implies inconsolable grief at loss: People often feel most desolate at a funeral.

Until next time! Use the right words!

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