left in the lurch
Ditched without warning
To be left in the lurch is to be abandoned in a difficult situation, stuck without help when you need it most: When my ride canceled, I was left in the lurch.
The phrase implies betrayal or negligence—someone who should have stayed didn't.
A lurch here is an old gaming term for a desperate position, surviving only in this expression.
- betrayedViolated someone's trust
- desertedLeft behind, uninhabited
- abandonedLeft behind completely
- forsakenCompletely abandoned or discarded
- strandedLeft without means to leave
thrown under the bus · high and dry · hung out to dry · unsupported · marooned · breach of trust · sold down the river · adrift · scrambling · blindsided · ghosted · cast aside · treachery · jilted · ditching · perfidy · dumped · backstabbing
- abandonmentabandon, abandoned, forsake, desert, leave
- abandonedabandoned, abandoned building, abandoned factory, abandoned hospital, abandoned mine
left in the lurchstood by
Supported or awaited
backed up · rallied behind · saved · bailed out · looked after
left, leaves, leaving, leftover, lurch, lurching, leftist, left-handed, lurches