天涯孤独

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 天涯孤独, read てんがいこどく, describes being alone in the world without family or relatives to turn to.
• Basic usage: In 物語の少年は天涯孤独の身で港町へ流れ着いた。, the boy in the story drifts into a port city without family to turn to.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Circumstances rather than a passing feeling
  • The expression strongly describes being without family rather than briefly feeling lonely. In the distant-relative example, finding a relative changes the person's belief that they are 天涯孤独.