Link Centre Dictionary

despair

des·pair

UK/dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/ US/dɪˈspɛɚ/ fairly common
noun (2) verb (1)

noun

1.

a state in which everything seems wrong and will turn out badly

  • “they were rescued from despair at the last minute”
Synonyms
2.

the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well

Antonyms

verb

1.

abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart

  • “Don”
Antonyms

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • climate despair
  • compare and despair
  • counsel of despair
  • death of despair
  • disease of despair
  • pit of despair

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.