B2nounemotionspsychology
US/ˈloʊn.li.nəs/
UK/ˈləʊn.li.nəs/
a sad feeling that comes when you have nobody close to share your life and thoughts with
In context
Many older people living alone in big cities struggle with loneliness.
Researchers say long-term loneliness can be as harmful to health as smoking.
Moving abroad for university, she felt a loneliness she had never known before.
Words that go with loneliness
noun + preposition
- feelings of lonelinessVolunteering can reduce feelings of loneliness after retirement.
- sense of lonelinessScrolling social media at night can increase a sense of loneliness rather than reduce it.
adjective + noun
- chronic lonelinessDoctors are learning to spot chronic loneliness in their elderly patients.
- deep lonelinessAfter the divorce, he went through a period of deep loneliness.
verb + noun
- combat lonelinessThe city opened free community cafés to combat loneliness among older residents.
noun + noun
- loneliness epidemicSome health experts warn of a loneliness epidemic in modern cities.