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The expression hopelessly lost just sounds awkward in my ears. But it seems to be grammatically correct and googling it finds quite a few links, so it seems to be a valid expression nevertheless.

So, is it just me, or is it generally felt as awkward?

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  • 3
    Sounds fine to me.
    – mplungjan
    Feb 27, 2014 at 6:46
  • I've heard it what seems like many times, and ii sounds very natural to me. Grammatically, many -ly words can be pressed into service to modify adjectives (participial or other): completely exhausted; worryingly depleted // fairly late; suspiciously quiet. Semantically, they may not work at all: fairly nuclear; joyously morose. Feb 27, 2014 at 11:47
  • actually being hopelessly lost is awkward too, so it fits.
    – Oldcat
    Feb 27, 2014 at 18:01

3 Answers 3

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It sounds perfectly clear and nicely descriptive to my ears. You are lost without any perceivable hope of getting unlosted!

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Not only clear, but an erudite, literary allusion - Dante loses his way at the start of the Divine Comedy, and ends up at the gates of Hades, on which are written, 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here.'

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I don't see anything awkward in "hopelessly lost". Even in German we say "hoffnungslos verloren".

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