Despair
[dɪ'speə] or [dɪ'spɛr]
Definition
(noun.) the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well; 'they moaned in despair and dismay'; 'one harsh word would send her into the depths of despair'.
(noun.) a state in which all hope is lost or absent; 'in the depths of despair'; 'they were rescued from despair at the last minute'; 'courage born of desperation'.
(verb.) abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart; 'Don't despair--help is on the way!'.
Editor: Tracy--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation; -- often with of.
(v. t.) To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
(v. t.) To cause to despair.
(n.) Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.
(n.) That which is despaired of.
Checker: Otis
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Desperation, loss of hope, complete or utter hopelessness.
v. n. Despond, lose all hope, give up all expectation, be without any hope.
Checked by Brits
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Despond, faint
ANT:Hope, trust, confide, rely, presume, rally
SYN:Hopelessness, despondency, desperation
ANT:Hopefulness, elation, anticipation, hilarity, confidence, sanguineness,expectation
Edited by Joanne
Definition
v.i. to be without hope: to despond.—n. want of hope: utter hopelessness: that which causes despair.—adj. Despair′ful (Spens.).—p.adj. Despair′ing apt to despair: full of despair.—adv. Despair′ingly.
Checker: Marsha
Unserious Contents or Definition
To be in despair in dreams, denotes that you will have many and cruel vexations in the working world. To see others in despair, foretells the distress and unhappy position of some relative or friend.
Edited by Lester
Examples
- His handsome face was distorted with a spasm of despair, and his hands tore at his hair. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Lydgate did not speak, but tossed his head on one side, and twitched the corners of his mouth in despair. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- This preposterous order roused the Carthaginians to despair. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Beppo did not despair, and he conducted his search with considerable ingenuity and perseverance. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Such instances save us from utter despair of our kind. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Yet I did not despair. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- She struck her hands together in despair. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Hideously certain did it seem that the very youngest of the school must guess why and for whom I despaired. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- How she had despaired and hoped to die there; and now were not all her wishes accomplished, and the lover of whom she had despaired her own for ever? William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He almost despaired of success, when, suddenly, he observed the loose fibres of his string to move towards an erect position. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- As it was, many loyal people despaired in the fall of 1862 of ever saving the Union. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- It is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is despaired of. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- This event had at last been despaired of, but it was then too late to be saving. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- I had not despaired; nor had I yet conceived the idea of returning, if set free. Mary Shelley. Frankenstein_Or_The Modern Prometheus.
- Every one of them is capable of cruelties and fine emotions, of despairs and devotions and self-forgetful effort. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- And when, looking up, her eyes met his dull despairing glance, her pity for him surmounted her anger and all her other anxieties. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The air was filled with groans and clashing of arms--the floors were slippery with the blood of despairing and expiring wretches. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- There was neither pleasure nor exultation in Cassy's eyes,--only a despairing firmness. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- She met Gerty's lamentable eyes, fixed on her in a despairing effort at consolation, and the look brought her to herself. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- A sorrowful indifference to existence often pressed on me--a despairing resignation to reach betimes the end of all things earthly. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Thousands lie round the pool, weeping and despairing, to see it, through slow years, stagnant. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Her father might be a heretic; but had not she, in her despairing doubts not five minutes before, shown herself a far more utter sceptic? Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
Checker: Victoria