despair

UK: /dɪˈspɛə^r/ US: /dɪˈspɛr/ ,(di spâr′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

de•spair /dɪˈspɛr/   n. 

1. loss of hope;
   hopelessness:
   [uncountable] He sank into despair when his business failed.
2. [count;
   usually singular] a source of hopelessness:
   He's the despair of his teachers.

v. 

3. to lose, give up, or be without hope: [no obj]:
   Don't despair.
   [ ~ + of + obj]:
   to despair of humanity.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

de•spair  (di spâr′), n. 

1. loss of hope;
   hopelessness.
2. someone or something that causes hopelessness:
   He is the despair of his mother.

v.i. 

3. to lose, give up, or be without hope (often fol. by of ):
   to despair of humanity.

v.t. 

4. [Obs.] to give up hope of.

• Latin dēspērāre to be without hope, equivalent. to dē- de- + spērāre to hope, derivative of spēs hope
• Anglo-French despeir, Old French despoir (noun, nominal), despeir-, tonic stem of desperer (verb, verbal)
• Middle English despeir (noun, nominal), despeiren (verb, verbal) 1275–1325

de•spair′er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. gloom, disheartenment.
  Despair, desperation, despondency, discouragement, hopelessness refer to a state of mind caused by circumstances that seem too much to cope with.
  Despair suggests total loss of hope, which may be passive or may drive one to furious efforts, even if at random:
  in the depths of despair; courage born of despair.
  Desperation is usually an active state, the abandonment of hope impelling to a furious struggle against adverse circumstances, with utter disregard of consequences:
  an act of desperation when everything else had failed.
  Despondency is a state of deep gloom and disheartenment:
  a spell of despondency.
  Discouragement is a loss of courage, hope, and ambition because of obstacles, frustrations, etc.:
  His optimism yielded to discouragement.
  Hopelessness is a loss of hope so complete as to result in a more or less permanent state of passive despair:
  a state of hopelessness and apathy.

Antonyms

• 1. hope.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

despair / dɪˈspɛə/ verb

1. (intransitive) often followed by of: to lose or give up hope: I despair of his coming
2. (transitive) to give up hope of; lose hope in

noun

1. total loss of hope
2. a person or thing that causes hopelessness or for which there is no hope

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French despoir hopelessness, from desperer to despair, from Latin dēspērāre, from de- + spērāre to hope