despair JUST WRITTEN FOR YOU
/dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/ · des·pair
noun
- A complete loss of hope; utter hopelessness. She fell into despair after hearing the news of the accident.
- Something that causes or embodies hopelessness. The endless war became a source of despair for the nation.
- A person or thing considered beyond hope. The abandoned factory was a despair to the city planners.
verb
- To lose hope; to give up as beyond hope or expectation. He despaired of ever finding a cure for the disease.
- To cause someone to lose hope. The bleak forecast despaired the hikers.
- Often with ‘of’: to be hopeless; to have no hope. She despaired of ever seeing her family again.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Did you know? The word appears in the title of Vladimir Nabokov's 1934 novel 'Despair', which was later adapted into a 1978 film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, highlighting its literary resonance.