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Forlorn vs Flounder - What's the difference?

forlorn | flounder |

As verbs the difference between forlorn and flounder

is that forlorn is (obsolete) while flounder is to flop around as a fish out of water.

As an adjective forlorn

is abandoned, left behind, deserted.

As a noun flounder is

a european species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, european flounder,.

forlorn

English

Verb

(head)
  • (obsolete)

    • Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Abandoned, left behind, deserted.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
    • Of fortune and of hope at once forlorn .
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • Some say that ravens foster forlorn children.
  • Miserable, as when lonely being abandoned.
  • * (Oliver Goldsmith) (1730-1774)
    • For here forlorn and lost I tread.
  • * (1796-1859)
    • The condition of the besieged in the mean time was forlorn in the extreme.
  • * (Mowbray Thomson) (1832-1917)
    • She cherished the forlorn hope that he was still living in captivity
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
    • , chapter=6, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.}}

    Derived terms

    * forlorn hope * forlornness * forlornly

    Synonyms

    * * (miserable ) forsaken

    flounder

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) floundre, from . Cognate with Danish flynder, German Flunder, Swedish flundra.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A European species of flatfish having dull brown colouring with reddish-brown blotches; fluke, European flounder, .
  • (North America) Any of various flatfish of the family Pleuronectidae or Bothidae.
  • A bootmaker's tool for crimping boot fronts.
    • (rfi, the bootmaker's tool)
    External links
    * (wikipedia "flounder")

    Etymology 2

    Possibly from the noun. Possibly from (founder) or from (etyl) . See other terms beginning with fl , such as (flutter), (flitter), (float), (flap), (flub), (flip)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To flop around as a fish out of water.
  • To make clumsy attempts to move or regain one's balance.
    • Robert yanked Connie's leg vigorously, causing her to flounder and eventually fall.
  • To act clumsily or confused; to struggle or be flustered.
  • * Sir W. Hamilton
    • They have floundered on from blunder to blunder.
    He gave a good speech, but floundered when audience members asked questions he could not answer well.
  • * 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 136
    • He is assessing directions, but he is not lost, not floundering .
    Usage notes
    Frequently confused with the verb founder. The difference is one of severity; floundering'' (struggling to maintain a position) comes before ''foundering (losing it completely by falling, sinking or failing).

    References

    English nouns with irregular plurals