loonsome meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

loonsome

adj

Etymology Variant of lonesome.

There they sat, with their "heads bowed down like the loonsome bulrush," as Uncle Billy poetically expressed it, weeping over their sins, as he thought, but the wicked creatures were laughing.1859, Hardin E. Taliaferro, Fisher's River (North Carolina): Scenes and Characters, page 160:
"Jack he ha' gart ta be about his wark, an' Aggie hare ha' gart har chillern ta see arter, an' sometimes I fare sa loonsome, hare, all alooan . . . wi' Gord."1906, James Blyth, The Same Clay, page 191:

1 more example

Oh, most o' Pa's yarnin's was jus' musey duck fartin' an'in his loonsome old age he even b'liefed Meronym the Prescient was his presh b'loved Sonmi, yay, he 'sisted it, he said he knowed it all by birthmarks an' comets'n'all.2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas:

adj

Etymology From loon + -some.

Characteristic of a loon or marked by looniness

Hi everyone, Had a lovlerley ubberley weekend-filled with much loonsome dancing and merriment.2007, Roast Dinner - Honeybuns:
Only one of them is crazy / Loonsome moontide / Drifts me like a paperboat [...]2011, Emu Camel Drum, Sanity Inhibits Wisdom:

3 more examples

Of course, Chisum didn’t read what he advocated before he advocated it (what would you expect), but his response when he finally read it wasn’t much less loonsome.2013, Encyclopedia of American Loons: #569: Warren Chisum^([americanloons.blogspot.com/2013/05/569-warren-chisum.html]):
“Failure of a so called musician, who drunkenly has staggered on home to the apartment complex where he dwell, but drunker than a mule on it's^([sic]) ass, and coincidentally, accidently^([sic]) enters the lonely loonsome next door neighbors^([sic]) place. […]”2016, Gage Washburn, Sonata Sleepless:
However, our loonsome duo stumble across advertising, marketing, Hovis, Argos and the Planet Zestis Omercrom Three (3) in their quest for knowledge.2017, Andrew Harland, The DredgeLand Sci-Fi Podcast Spectacular: