despair

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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

Verb

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

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
  2. (transitive) To cause to despair.
    • 2019, Tim Dee, Landfill:
      Thinking of what I was despairing about despaired me further
  3. (intransitive, often with “of”) To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation.

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Translations

Noun

despair (countable and uncountable, plural despairs)

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

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