What is another word for despair?
Synonyms for despair
dɪˈspɛərde·spair
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word despair.
Wiktionary
despairnoun
Synonyms:
desperation, hopelessness, despondencydespairnoun
To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
He turned around in despair, aware that he was not going to survive
Synonyms:
hopelessness, desperation, despondencydespairverb
To cause to despair.
Synonyms:
despondency, desperation, hopelessness
English Synonyms and Antonyms
despair
Discouragement is the result of so much repulse or failure as wears out courage. Discouragements too frequent and long continued may produce a settled hopelessness. Hopelessness is negative, and may result from simple apathy; despondency and despair are more emphatic and decided. Despondency is an incapacity for the present exercise of hope; despair is the utter abandonment of hope. Despondency relaxes energy and effort and is always attended with sadness or distress; despair may produce a stony calmness, or it may lead to desperation. Desperation is energized despair, vigorous in action, reckless of consequences.
Synonyms:
desperation, despondency, discouragement, hopelessnessAntonyms:
anticipation, assurance, cheer, confidence, courage, elation, encouragement, expectancy, expectation, hope, hopefulness, trust
Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms
despairnoun
Synonyms:
hopelessness, despondency, desperationAntonyms:
hopefulness, elation, anticipation, hilarity, confidence, sanguineness, expectationdespairverb
Princeton's WordNet
despair, desperationnoun
a state in which all hope is lost or absent
"in the depths of despair"; "they were rescued from despair at the last minute"; "courage born of desperation"
Synonyms:
desperationAntonyms:
hopedespairverb
the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well
"they moaned in despair and dismay"; "one harsh word would send her into the depths of despair"
Synonyms:
desperationAntonyms:
hopedespairverb
abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart
"Don't despair--help is on the way!"
Antonyms:
hope
Matched Categories
Editors Contribution
saddnessnoun
utter loss of hope
Submitted by Andrea_Dubois2085 on May 9, 2024
Dictionary of English Synonymes
despairnoun
Synonyms:
desperation, loss of hope, complete or utter hopelessnessdespairverb
Synonyms:
despond, lose all hope, give up all expectation, be without any hope
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
despairnoun
Synonyms:
hopelessness, desperation, inconsolableness
PPDB, the paraphrase database
List of paraphrases for "despair":
desperation, hopelessness, distress, desolation, despondency, desperate
Suggested Resources
despair
Song lyrics by despair -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by despair on the Lyrics.com website.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Words popularity by usage frequency
| ranking | word | |
|---|---|---|
| #6496 | desperate | |
| #12669 | distress | |
| #15135 | faint | |
| #15811 | despair | |
| #23875 | desperation | |
| #39211 | desolation | |
| #48812 | hopelessness | |
| #73210 | discouragement | |
| #108546 | despondency | |
| #258154 | despond |
How to use despair in a sentence?
Forty-seven years ago, I was in a desperate situation, in despair, and uh, probably not long to live, and I just had to realize there was something really wrong with me. But I didn’t realize it was a kind of condition – a mental, physical, emotional condition called alcoholism or addiction.
Because thou must not dream, thou need not despair.
President Barack Obama on Friday:
May we always remember that our shared heritage makes us stronger, that our roots are intertwined, may we always choose faith over nihilism, and courage over despair, and hope over cynicism and fear.
Do not despair of life. Think of the fox, prowling in a winter night to satisfy his hunger. His race survives I do not believe any of them ever committed suicide.
In moments of despair, take inventory, what is the worst that can happen in this situation? Then trust that the worst does not happen, for it seldom does. You will outlive many worst-case scenarios in your lifetime.” Andreas Simic
Translations for despair
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- يأسArabic
- губя надежда, отчаяние, отчайвам, отчайвам сеBulgarian
- desesperacióCatalan, Valencian
- zoufalství, zoufatCzech
- fortvivlelseDanish
- verzweifeln, VerzweiflungGerman
- απελπισίαGreek
- malesperi, malesperoEsperanto
- desesperación, desesperarSpanish
- یاسPersian
- luopua, epätoivo, menettääFinnish
- désespérer, désespoirFrench
- wanhopeWestern Frisian
- ייאוש, התייאש, ייאשHebrew
- निराHindi
- kétségbeesésHungarian
- հուսահատվելArmenian
- putus asaIndonesian
- disperazioneItalian
- 絶望, 諦める, 失望Japanese
- სასოწარკვეთა, უიმედობა, სასოწარკვეთილებაGeorgian
- 절망Korean
- desperoLatin
- neviltisLithuanian
- очај, очајуваMacedonian
- wanhopenDutch
- frustrasjon, fortvile, fortvilelseNorwegian
- rozpaczać, rozpaczPolish
- desesperar, [[desesperar]]-[[se]], desesperoPortuguese
- desperare, desperaRomanian
- отча́иваться, отчаяние, отча́ятьсяRussian
- beznađeSerbo-Croatian
- desperation, misströsta, förtvivlaSwedish
- kukata tamaaSwahili
- விரக்தியிலும்Tamil
- สิ้นหวังThai
- umutsuzlukTurkish
- відчайUkrainian
- مایوسیUrdu
- נידונגYiddish
- 绝望Chinese
Get even more translations for despair »
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"despair." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 19 Mar. 2025. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/despair>.
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