despair

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/
(General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɛɚ/
Audio (General American): (file)
Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
Homophone: dispair
Hyphenation: des‧pair

Verb

despair (third-person singular simple present despairs, present participle despairing, simple past and past participle despaired)

(transitive, obsolete) To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
- 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:
  I would not despair the greatest design that could be attempted.
- 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Economy”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:
  I sometimes despair of getting anything quite simple and honest done in this world by the help of men.
(transitive) To cause to despair.
- 2019, Tim Dee, Landfill:
  Thinking of what I was despairing about despaired me further
(intransitive, often with “of”) To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 1:8:
  We despaired even of life.

Derived terms

Translations

to despair of

Bulgarian: отча́йвам се impf (otčájvam se)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 絕望 / 绝望 (zh) (juéwàng)
French: désespérer (fr)
German: verzweifeln (de)
Hebrew: התייאש (hitya'ésh)
Hungarian: csügged (hu), elcsügged (hu), kétségbeesik (hu)
Ido: desesperar (io)
Italian: disperare (it)
Japanese: 絶望する (ja) (ぜつぼうする, zetsubō suru), 諦める (ja) (あきらめる, akirameru)
Kazakh: үмітсіздену (ümıtsızdenu), торығу (toryğu), үміт үзу (ümıt üzu)
Ladin: vester gram
Latin: dēspērō (la)
Macedonian: очајува (očajuva)
Norwegian: fortvile over (no)
Old English: ortrīewan
Portuguese: desesperar-se (pt)
Romanian: despera (ro)
Russian: отча́иваться (ru) impf (otčáivatʹsja), отча́яться (ru) impf (otčájatʹsja)
Spanish: desesperar (es)
Swedish: förtvivla (sv), misströsta (sv)
Tocharian B: si-n-

to cause to despair

Bulgarian: отчайвам (bg) (otčajvam)
Dutch: tot wanhoop drijven
Georgian: სასოწარკვეთა (sasoc̣arḳveta)
German: zur Verzweiflung bringen (de)
Hebrew: ייאש (yi'ésh)
Hungarian: elcsüggeszt (hu)
Ido: desesperigar (io)
Portuguese: desesperar (pt)

to be hopeless

Arabic: يَئِسَ (yaʔisa)
Armenian: հուսահատվել (hy) (husahatvel)
Bulgarian: губя надежда (gubja nadežda)
Czech: zoufat (cs)
Dutch: wanhopen (nl)
Esperanto: malesperi (eo)
Finnish: menettää toivonsa (fi), luopua toivosta (fi)
French: désespérer (fr)
Galician: desesperar (gl)
German: verzweifeln (de), die Hoffnung aufgeben
Greek: απελπίζομαι (el) (apelpízomai)
Ancient: ἀπελπίζω (apelpízō), ἀθυμέω (athuméō)
Icelandic: örvænta (is)
Indonesian: berputus asa (id)
Italian: disperare (it)
Macedonian: очајува (očajuva)
Maori: takarure
Ngazidja Comorian: utsindza twamaa
Norwegian: fortvile
Old English: ortrīewan
Polish: rozpaczać (pl)
Portuguese: desesperar-se (pt)
Romanian: despera (ro)
Spanish: desesperanzar (es) (pronominal), desesperar (es) (intransitive, pronominal)
Swahili: kukata tamaa
Swedish: förtvivla (sv)
Tagalog: desperado

Noun

despair (countable and uncountable, plural despairs)

Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.
He turned around in despair, aware that he was not going to survive
That which causes despair.
That which is despaired of. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

Antonyms

hope
respair

Derived terms

Translations

loss of hope

Arabic: يَأْس (ar) (yaʔs)
Aragonese: desaspero m
Armenian: հուսահատություն (hy) (husahatutʻyun)
Basque: etsipen
Belarusian: ро́спач m (róspač)
Bulgarian: отча́яние (bg) n (otčájanie)
Catalan: desesperació
Chinese:
Mandarin: 絕望 / 绝望 (zh) (juéwàng)
Czech: zoufalství (cs) n
Danish: opgivelse
Dutch: wanhoop (nl) c
Esperanto: malespero (eo)
Finnish: epätoivo (fi)
French: désespoir (fr) m
Georgian: უიმედობა (uimedoba), სასოწარკვეთილება (sasoc̣arḳvetileba)
German: Verzweiflung (de) f, Hoffnungslosigkeit (de)
Greek: απελπισία (el) f (apelpisía)
Ancient: δυσθυμία f (dusthumía)
Hebrew: יֵאוּשׁ \ ייאוש (he) m (ye'ush)
Hindi: निराशा (hi) f (nirāśā), मायूसी (hi) f (māyūsī)
Hungarian: kétségbeesés (hu), csüggedés (hu)
Ido: desespero (io)
Indonesian: putus asa (id)
Irish: éadóchas
Italian: disperazione (it) f
Japanese: 絶望 (ja) (ぜつぼう, zetsubō), 失望 (ja) (しつぼう, shitsubō)
Korean: 절망(絶望) (ko) (jeolmang)
Latin: desperatio f
Lithuanian: neviltis f
Macedonian: очај m (očaj)
Maori: rāwakiwaki, takaruretanga
Norwegian: desperasjon m, håplosighet m or f
Old English: ormōdnes f
Persian: نومیدی (fa) (novmidi)
Polish: rozpacz (pl) f, beznadzieja (pl) f
Portuguese: desespero (pt) m
Romanian: desperare (ro) f
Russian: отча́яние (ru) n (otčájanije), безнадёжность (ru) f (beznadjóžnostʹ), тлен (ru) m (tlen) (poetic)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бѐзна̄ђе n, очаја́ње n

Roman: bèznāđe (sh) n, očajánje (sh) n
Slovak: zúfalstvo n
Slovene: obup (sl) m
Spanish: desesperación (es) f, desesperanza (es) f, desespero (es) m
Swedish: desperation (sv) c, förtvivlan (sv) c, hopplöshet (sv)
Tagalog: kawalang-pag-asa
Tajik: ноумедӣ (noumedi)
Telugu: నిరాశ (te) (nirāśa)
Tocharian B: silñe
Turkish: umutsuzluk (tr)
Ukrainian: ві́дчай m (vídčaj), відча́й m (vidčáj), ро́зпач m (rózpač), розпу́ка f (rozpúka)
West Frisian: wanhope n
Yiddish: ייִאוש m (yiesh)

Anagrams

Piedras, aperids, aspired, diapers, praised, pre-AIDS