What does “despair” mean?
- 1
nouna feeling of having lost all hope
In despair, he gave up looking for work.
- 2
verbto stop hoping that things will improve, often used with “of”
Don’t despair; things will get better.
Despair at a glance
- Part of speech
- noun & verb
- CEFR level
- C1 (advanced)
- Pronunciation
- /dɪˈspɛr/ · dih-SPAIR
How to use “despair” correctly
“Despair” is the noun and verb; “desperate” is the adjective. Say “in despair”, not “in desperate”.
Common phrases with “despair”
- in despair
- sink into despair
- despair of sth
- to the despair of
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Synonyms (similar meaning)
- hopelessness
- misery
- lose hope
Antonyms (opposite meaning)
Word family
- desperate
- desperation
- despairing
“despair” is on these word lists
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