loneliness
Ache for company
Loneliness is the painful awareness of being alone or disconnected from others.
It differs from solitude, which may be chosen and enjoyed—loneliness is unwanted isolation.
The feeling can strike even in crowds when genuine connection is absent: She felt a deep loneliness despite being surrounded by people.
Chronic loneliness affects mental and physical health.
State of emotional pain
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
- griefIntense sorrow from loss
despair · emptiness · hollowness · ache · pining · wistfulness · desolation · forlornness
Voluntary withdrawal from society
- isolationComplete separation from others
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- disconnectionState of being severed
- detachmentSeparation or emotional uninvolvement
estrangement · separateness · reclusiveness · hermitage · retreat · quarantine · confinement · exile
Being barred from participation
- rejectionDenial of acceptance
- ostracismBanishment from a group
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- othernessQuality of being unlike
unbelonging · outcast · misfit · outsider · stigmatization · disaffiliation · displacement · segregation
Absence of substance
- meaninglessnessLack of significance
- anomieBreakdown of shared standards
- absurdityWildly illogical quality
- nothingnessComplete absence of existence
void · purposelessness · insignificance · disconnection · rootlessness · drifting · lostness · disorientation
Intense prolonged craving
- piningAching with prolonged desire
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
- missingNot present, whereabouts unknown
craving · ache · desire · wistfulness · heartache · hungering · thirsting · lovesickness
Sustained reflective attention
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- meditationFocused attention practice
- quietudeState of calm stillness
stillness · silence · peace · retreat · privacy · mindfulness · monasticism · anchorite
sadness
State of emotional pain
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
grief · despair · emptiness · hollowness · ache · pining · wistfulness · desolation · forlornness · bleakness
seclusion
Voluntary withdrawal from society
- isolationComplete separation from others
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- disconnectionState of being severed
detachment · estrangement · separateness · reclusiveness · hermitage · retreat · quarantine · confinement · exile · banishment
exclusion
Being barred from participation
- rejectionDenial of acceptance
- ostracismBanishment from a group
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
otherness · unbelonging · outcast · misfit · outsider · stigmatization · disaffiliation · displacement · segregation · invisibility
emptiness
Absence of substance
- meaninglessnessLack of significance
- anomieBreakdown of shared standards
- absurdityWildly illogical quality
nothingness · void · purposelessness · insignificance · disconnection · rootlessness · drifting · lostness · disorientation · uncertainty
yearning
Intense prolonged craving
- piningAching with prolonged desire
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
- nostalgiaLonging for the past
missing · craving · ache · desire · wistfulness · heartache · hungering · thirsting · lovesickness · reminiscence
contemplation
Sustained reflective attention
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- meditationFocused attention practice
quietude · stillness · silence · peace · retreat · privacy · mindfulness · monasticism · anchorite · eremite
- experiencesadventure, journey, moment, event, feeling
- expresion emocionaljoy, sadness, anger, fear, love
- bad feelingssadness, anger, fear, grief, sorrow
- -NESS wordsfullness, happiness, kindness, darkness, sadness
- CastawaysRobinson Crusoe, castaway, Gilligan, shipwreck, stranded
- emotional strugglesinner turmoil, inner conflict, emotional pain, heartbreak, sadness
lonelinesscompanionship
State of having company
company · fellowship · togetherness · friendship · connection
lonelinesscontentment
Peaceful satisfaction with circumstances
fulfillment · happiness · joy · wholeness · satisfaction
lonelinessbelonging
State of fitting in
inclusion · acceptance · membership · integration · community
- loneliness epidemicSocietal surge in disconnection
- urban lonelinessIsolation amid city crowds
alone, lonely, lone, solitary, solitude, lonesome, aloneness, lonelier, lonesomeness