सूनापन (soonaapan)
noun
A noun meaning emptiness or desolation, especially the emotional kind felt when a place or life feels hollow after someone or something has left. Related to सूना (soonaa, 'empty/deserted'), of which this is the abstract noun form.
Sense
1
:
emptiness, desolation (emotional or of a place)
noun, masculine
Synonyms: खालीपन (khaaliipan), वीरानी (viiraanii, more about a deserted place), उजाड़ (ujaad, desolation of a place)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This word carries the particular ache of a house or a heart going quiet after someone leaves -- a mother describing the house after her children move out for college might say the house has fallen into सूनापन (soonaapan). It pairs naturally with feelings of loss (a person's absence, a festival season ending) rather than just physical bareness, which is the territory of its root adjective सूना (soonaa).
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often reach for खाली (khaalii, 'empty') as an adjective when they actually want this noun for the *feeling* of emptiness -- सूनापन (soonaapan) is the abstract state, not a description of a container or space being unfilled. 2) It is used almost as often for a feeling inside a person (loneliness after a loss) as for a literally empty place, which surprises learners who first meet सूना (soonaa) only in physical descriptions.
Sample Sentences:
बच्चों के जाने के बाद घर में एक अजीब सूनापन छा गया।
After the children left, a strange emptiness settled over the house.
(bachchon ke jaane ke baad ghar men ek ajiib soonaapan chhaa gayaa।)
उसकी मौत के बाद से मेरी ज़िंदगी में एक सूनापन-सा रहता है।
Ever since her death, a kind of emptiness has lingered in my life.
(uskii maut ke baad se merii zindgii men ek soonaapan-saa rahtaa hai।)
दिवाली के बाद घर का सूनापन मुझे बहुत खलता है।
The emptiness of the house after Diwali really gets to me.
(divaalii ke baad ghar kaa soonaapan mujhe bahut khaltaa hai।)
अगर वह चला जाता, तो इस घर में जो सूनापन होता, वह सहा नहीं जाता।
If he had gone away, the emptiness that would have filled this house would have been unbearable.
(agar vah chalaa jaataa, to is ghar men jo soonaapan hotaa, vah sahaa nahiin jaataa।)
माँ ने कहा कि बेटी की शादी के बाद घर में बहुत सूनापन आ गया है।
Mother said that a great emptiness has come over the house since her daughter's wedding.
(maan ne kahaa ki betii kii shaadii ke baad ghar men bahut soonaapan aa gayaa hai।)
यह सूनापन शब्दों में बयान नहीं किया जा सकता।
This emptiness cannot be expressed in words.
(yah soonaapan shabdon men bayaan nahiin kiyaa jaa saktaa।)
कहीं ऐसा न हो कि तुम्हारे जाने के बाद यह घर सूनापन का शिकार हो जाए।
Let it not happen that this house falls prey to emptiness after you leave.
(kahiin aisaa n ho ki tumhaare jaane ke baad yah ghar soonaapan kaa shikaar ho jaae।)
छुट्टियां खत्म होते ही स्कूल में फिर से वही सूनापन फैल जाएगा।
As soon as the holidays end, that same emptiness will spread through the school again.
(chhuttiyaan khatm hote hii skool men phir se vahii soonaapan phail jaaegaa।)
पति की नौकरी दूसरे शहर में लगने के बाद उसकी आँखों में एक सूनापन झलकता था।
After her husband got a job in another city, a certain emptiness used to show in her eyes.
(pati kii naukrii doosre shahar men lagne ke baad uskii aankhon men ek soonaapan jhalaktaa thaa।)
पूजा जी, कृपया इस सूनापन को अकेलापन समझने की भूल न करें।
Pooja ji, please do not make the mistake of taking this emptiness for mere loneliness.
(poojaa jii, kripyaa is soonaapan ko akelaapan samajhne kii bhool n karen।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
सूनापन
(soonaapan)
(sg.m.oblique):
सूनापन
(soonaapan)
(pl.m.direct):
सूनापन
(soonaapan)
(pl.m.oblique):
सूनापनों
(soonaapnon)