lost child
Wandered from parents
A lost child is a child who has become separated from parents or guardians and cannot find their way back.
The term extends to adults who feel directionless or abandoned: He wandered through his twenties like a lost child.
In family systems psychology, the lost child is a role adopted by children in dysfunctional households—withdrawn, invisible, asking for nothing to avoid adding to family stress.
- missingNot present, whereabouts unknown
- missing personUnlocated person sought by authorities
- foundDiscovered or established
- last seenMost recent observation
- wanderingTraveling with no fixed course
alone · scared · crying · searching · search party · have you seen · milk carton · amber alert · public announcement · playground · parent · frightened · separated · small · vulnerable · police · stranger danger · strangers
- lifeguardinglifeguard, lifeguard stand, rescue tube, rescue buoy, CPR
- soap operassoap opera, telenovela, melodrama, cliffhanger, amnesia
- Codependencycodependency, enabling, enmeshment, people-pleasing, caretaking
- melodramavillain, heroine, hero, damsel in distress, happy ending
- missing peopleabductee, kidnap victim, Jane Doe, John Doe, MIA
- childhoodbaby, kid, toys, play, infant