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orphan

[awr-fuhn] / ˈɔr fən /
NOUN
child without parents
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Why, then, is the orphan IG’s future in doubt, even as the President cheers its work?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Astronomers describe it as an apparent "orphan" because it sits unusually far from the galactic core, where supermassive black holes are normally found.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

Hottle played a young orphan named Jia in the monster film series, and reprised the role in the 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Marina’s mother died only a few years after Alfonso, making Marina an orphan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Suddenly Nate was an orphan with just one living relative in the world: the uncle that Papa had always hated.

From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

And he puts his money where his mouth is, with the Mohamed Salah Charity Foundation, in Nagrig, helping orphans, divorced and widowed women, the poor and sick.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

Being raised by another sea otter rather than a human gives Sunny — like other orphans — the best chance of learning essential skills, he added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

Opened in 1873, the privately operated detention facility housed petty delinquents and orphans, said Marc Schindler, a professor at Georgetown who leads the project.

From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026

Later, alone and faced with the choice of a losing battle against seven brigands or abandoning a group of frightened orphans to their fate, Brienne decides that she has “no chance, and no choice.”

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2026

Some families lost every male member, leaving behind widows and orphans and shattered dreams.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Mitchell said intraparty matchups in the past have shown 35% of orphaned voters or more simply abstain from voting in that race.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

In 1995, Keith starred in Next Of Kin as Maggie Prentice, a grandmother who made no secret of disliking her orphaned grandchildren when taking them in after the death of her estranged son.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has revoked the school's license permanently, and said that students' educations would continue through online learning options or transfers to other institutions – especially for orphaned students.

From BBC ● May 13, 2026

That certainly has been the case with orphaned oil wells, which also were built with promises of safety.

From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026

Neither one of us had a proper home of our own growing up—you orphaned and me leaving home after sixth grade.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Within these confines, COVID-19 advanced without mercy: orphaning children, killing breadwinners and shattering families.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2022

“The biggest fear around spring bear season is the orphaning of cubs, that’s a very emotional argument. Even as a hunter, my worse fear would be to take a sow. Especially in a spring season.”

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2021

In Texas, Lydia Rodriguez, 42, died this month of covid-19, two weeks after her husband Lawrence’s death from the same disease, orphaning their four children.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2021

Her husband succumbed to the virus as well, orphaning their newborn.

From Fox News ● Aug. 10, 2020

Since the orphaning and especially since the blindness of Louise, Henriette cared for her with a love overwhelming as that of a mother for her helpless baby.

From Orphans of the Storm by Henry MacMahon




Vocabulary lists containing orphan


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