Most often appears in the four-character 孤苦伶仃 (gūkǔ língdīng, "alone and miserable"). Standalone 伶仃 is more literary and can also describe physical frailty — thin, hanging by a thread.
history
Echoes the Lingding Strait (伶仃洋, Língdīng Yáng) off Guangdong, made famous by Song general 文天祥 Wén Tiānxiáng's line 零丁洋里叹零丁 — "in the Lonely Sea I sigh at my loneliness." 零丁 and 伶仃 are written variants.
