| 释义 |
despondent, a. and n.|dɪˈspɒndənt|
[ad. L. dēspondēnt-em, pr. pple. of dēspondēre to despond: see -ent.]
1. Characterized by loss of heart or resolution; labouring under mental depression; desponding.
a1699W. Bates Fear of God xv. (R.), For a despondent sinner to think..that God will triumph in the mere torments of his creatures..is a sin equal to atheism. 1730–46Thomson Autumn 980 Congregated thrushes..now shivering sit On the dead tree, a dull despondent flock. 1800E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. I. 272 She sat despondent, lamenting her own extravagance. 1849Grote Greece ii. xlii. V. 215 Many..chiefs were not merely apathetic but despondent in the cause.
2. Of or belonging to despondency.
1844Dickens Chimes ii, He then made a despondent gesture with both hands. 1888M. E. Braddon Fatal Three i. v, He sat in a despondent attitude.
B. n. One who desponds.
1812Southey in Q. Rev. VIII. 347 A war which..the despondents have pronounced hopeless. a1845A. E. Bray Warleigh xxxi. (1884) 242, I am no despondent. |