despair.
To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
Meaning & usage
To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
To cause to despair.
To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English dispeir, from Anglo-Norman despeir and Old French desperer (from Latin dēspērō, dēspērāre), or desesperer, from des- (“dis-”) + esperer (“hope”). See also desperate. Displaced native Old English ormōdnes (“despair”) and Old English ortrīewan (“to despair”).
Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.
He turned around in despair, aware that he was not going to survive.
My daughter's behavior drives me to despair.
That which causes despair.
That which is despaired of.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English dispeir, from Anglo-Norman despeir and Old French desperer (from Latin dēspērō, dēspērāre), or desesperer, from des- (“dis-”) + esperer (“hope”). See also desperate. Displaced native Old English ormōdnes (“despair”) and Old English ortrīewan (“to despair”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.