motherless

/'mʌðəlis/

Thân thiện

A young girl feels motherless after her mother's passing.

Definition

Adjective: * Having no living or known mother: Describes a person, typically a child, whose mother has died or whose mother is absent and unknown.

Usage

The adjective "motherless" directly modifies a noun to describe the state of lacking a mother. It is most commonly used to describe children but can apply to individuals of any age.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The orphanage cared for many motherless children.
  • He felt a deep sense of loneliness, having been motherless since infancy.
  • The novel tells the story of a motherless girl finding her place in the world.

Advanced Usage

• Figurative/Extended Use: Can be used in a broader, sometimes metaphorical sense to describe something that lacks a source of nurturing, origin, or care.
  • The project felt motherless and adrift after its lead advocate left the company.

Variants and Related Words

• Motherlessness (noun): The state or condition of being without a mother.
  • Her childhood was marked by motherlessness and constant change.

Synonyms

• Orphaned (specifically when both parents are deceased, but often used when the mother is deceased).
• Parentless (more general, lacking both parents).

Antonyms

• Mothered
• Having a mother

Notes

• The term often carries strong emotional connotations of loss, vulnerability, or lack of nurturing.
• While "fatherless" is a parallel term, "motherless" is used independently and is not contingent on the father's status.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. having no living or known mother