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Showing results for orphan. Search instead for orphr.
Definitions

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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PantheRx Rare, based in Pittsburgh, is a pharmacy that focuses on rare and orphan diseases, helping to provide medications and personalized care.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 10, 2026

The other, a Flea Bottom orphan taken in by a drunken hedge knight, spent most of his life sleeping on the hard ground.

From Salon Jun. 20, 2026

He noted that Brendon was left an orphan.

From Los Angeles Times May 14, 2026

My own grandmother came here as an orphan when she was 6 or 7 years old.

From Slate Mar. 20, 2026

It didn’t matter that he was an orphan who never quite fit into the puzzles of families he was shoved into.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Between 1970 and 1989, 7,220 South Korean children were adopted in Denmark, almost all of whom were told they were street orphans.

From Barron's Jun. 4, 2026

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

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

It might seem like a shelter from the storm, but it really was another asylum packed with a bunch of mangy orphans ready to filch my last possessions while I slept.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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 calf, which has been named Bumpy, was "just days old" when it became orphaned, according to Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a charity whose keepers are now taking care of it.

From BBC May 6, 2026

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

From Salon Apr. 27, 2026

The story tells of an ill-favored child, Marie Grosholtz, who’s born in an Alsatian village in 1761 and orphaned a few years later.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 12, 2026

But that changed when I discovered an orphaned gosling.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

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 MacMahon, Henry




Vocabulary lists containing orphan


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