Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Alone and forlorn: Describes a state of being by oneself in a way that appears lonely, pitiful, or desolate, often with a sense of quiet resignation or dejection.
   • Lonely and subdued: Conveys a feeling of solitude accompanied by a quiet, melancholic, or humble demeanor, without the bustle of company.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • Sau buổi tiệc, anh ấy lủi thủi ra về một mình. (After the party, he went home alone and forlorn.)
  • Đứa trẻ ngồi lủi thủi trong góc phòng. (The child sat lonely and subdued in the corner of the room.)
  • Bà cụ lủi thủi bán hàng ở đầu chợ. (The old woman sells goods at the market entrance, looking lonesome.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often implies not just physical solitude but also an emotional state of sadness or neglect that is visibly apparent in one's actions or posture.
• It can describe the manner of an action (functioning similarly to an adverb) to mean "in a lonely, pitiful way," as in (to head home in a forlorn manner).

Variants and Related Words

• Thui thủi (adj): A close variant with the same core meaning of being alone and pitiful.
  • Nó ngồi thui thủi cả buổi chiều. (He sat alone and dejected all afternoon.)

Synonyms

• Forlorn: Pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely.
• Lonesome: Sad from being alone.
• Solitary: Done or existing alone, often with a connotation of isolation.
• Desolate: Feeling or showing great unhappiness or loneliness.

Related Idioms

• Lủi thủi như con chó ốm: (To be) as forlorn as a sick dog. This idiom intensifies the imagery of pitiful solitude.
  • Thất bại xong, anh ta về nhà lủi thủi như con chó ốm. (After failing, he went home as forlorn as a sick dog.)

adj

1. alone; lonely; lonesome