Get lost means to lose your way or to go missing; as an exclamation, Get lost! is a rude way of telling someone to go away. In the first meaning it is used about people in an unfamiliar place and about things that disappear during a journey: my luggage got lost. The second sounds harsh and is used in arguments; to ask politely to be left alone, you can say: Could you leave me alone, please?
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get lost + in + place; get lost on the way to + place; Get lost! (rude)
- We got lost in the old part of Lisbon because my phone battery died.
- Send me the room number, because I always get lost in big office buildings.
- My little brother kept reading my messages, so I finally told him to get lost.
What changed
First versionOn my first day in London I lost near the station.
RevisionOn my first day in London I got lost near the station.
It is tempting to say just I lost, but lose means “stop having something” or “be defeated”, so I lost sounds like “I was defeated”. To say you lost your way, use got lost.
I'm lost means you don't know where you are right now. I got lost says it happened at some point: We got lost on the way to the hotel. And get lost in a book means to be completely absorbed in it.
Your turn
The airline apologised because my suitcase ___ during the transfer in Frankfurt.
Show the answer
got lost — The suitcase didn't lose anything; it went missing itself, so you need got lost. My suitcase lost would mean the suitcase lost something or was defeated.
Think of a time when you got lost. Say where it was and how you found your way.
I got lost in the Tokyo metro last spring, but a kind student showed me the right exit.
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