Sad, forlorn, or lonely; characterized by loneliness or a sense of loss.
Formed from 'gone' plus the suffix -some (meaning 'full of' or 'characterized by'), similar to how we form 'loathsome' or 'fearsome.' This is an archaic or dialectal term that may derive from Old English patterns.
This beautiful old word captures the specific melancholy of absence—it's not just sad, but sad because something or someone is gone, and it fell out of everyday English even though we still feel the emotion it describes.
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