How to Use lonely in a Sentence

lonely

adjective
  • She was a lonely child with few friends.
  • She spent too many lonely nights at home.
  • It was lonely living out in the country.
  • She had a lonely childhood.
  • He was lonely without his wife and children.
  • The hopes and fears of the blessed and the lonely, the vital and the frail.
    Steve Lopezcolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2023
  • The journey to your goals does not have to be a lonely one.
    Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Dec. 2023
  • Our team always jokes, that’s the loneliest night of the week, right?
    Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Utah, Alaska, and Hawaii rolled in as the least lonely states.
    Alexa Mikhail, Fortune, 14 Nov. 2022
  • Juárez lies in the heart of the desert, and on the surface, much of it resembles a lonely ghost town.
    John Hopewell, Variety, 3 Dec. 2024
  • But the videos don’t always show how lonely the job can be.
    Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2023
  • And now you two are engaged in a silent and lonely battle.
    Amy Dickinson, Anchorage Daily News, 9 June 2023
  • Their trip through the lonely Granger Prairie would be Christine's last ride.
    Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 14 May 2024
  • Did no one want to spend time with someone who might be sad and lonely?
    Annabel Abbs-Streets, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
  • Two lonely and self-loathing strangers are seated in the tavern on a snowy evening.
    Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 14 Nov. 2023
  • But her time in the oil sands was lonely, and the men harassed her constantly.
    WIRED, 17 Oct. 2023
  • But the church can be a difficult and lonely place for many, and their stories are painful to hear.
    The Salt Lake Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023
  • The first film follows a lonely 12-year-old boy who has a big crush on his babysitter.
    Stacey Grant, Seventeen, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Everybody doesn’t have that here—and this is a lonely space.
    Madison Feller, ELLE, 26 Apr. 2023
  • Shawn isn't so much lonely as he is used to being alone, a fact that makes his ups and downs with Matt all the more poignant.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 June 2022
  • Local Bedouin contacts led him to the lonely palm tree.
    Matti Friedman, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Dec. 2022
  • Here’s a great piece from this week: James Dean made his last stop at this lonely gas station.
    Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 4 Feb. 2024
  • Those two lonely employees in the empty store might be glad to hear that.
    Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 16 Oct. 2023
  • That and nobody having the forethought to put a bored, lonely, nothing-to-do Tom Brady in a spot.
    Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Feb. 2023
  • The loneliest time taught me that growth comes from being planted in darkness.
    Starr Bowenbank, Billboard, 28 July 2023
  • The case of the week was the apparent suicide of a lonely accountant named Fred.
    Mandi Bierly, TVLine, 4 Aug. 2024
  • At home, Saoirse grew up into a lonely and troubled teen.
    Kristine Phillips, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Dec. 2022
  • After laying the wreath, Biden saluted and then made the sign of the cross as a bugler played taps, the lonely call floating in the late-spring air.
    ABC News, 30 May 2022
  • Get ready for one lonely human to meet their soulmate . . .
    Eli Grober, The New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2023
  • Regal, guarded and stubborn, Jolie plays Callas as a lonely 50-something who rejected love, fame, joy and music and won’t fight that hard to get them back.
    Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lonely.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: