Is being alone the same as being lonely?

Alone and lonely are not exactly the same. Lonely is used to express a negative emotion. Alone is used to describe a situation when there is no one else around.

There are times when I’m very happy to be alone. I enjoy the silence. I like being with myself. I like to journal. I like to listen to the sounds of nature. I like green face masks.

There are other times when I feel very lonely even when I’m in a room of crowded people. I feel sad mainly because I can’t connect to anyone around me.

Ok, so what does this have to do with TOEFL? I’m so glad you asked!

In TOEFL, we CANNOT rely on our own opinions or feelings about a vocabulary word. Always look at the context (the words and sentences that surround the vocabulary word) to fully understand how the word is being used.

For example:

The woman shared her apartment with no one and remained alone for many years.

The word alone is closest in meaning to:

a. lonely

b. solitary

A is Incorrect. Lonely has