hopelessadj.
/ˈhəʊplɪs/ 1. Destitute of hope; having or feeling no hope; despairing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > [adjective]
ormodeOE
ortroweOE
aerwenec1275
wanlessa1300
desesperatc1384
despairedc1400
wanhopelyc1425
lornc1475
desperate1483
wanhope1549
hopelost1570
despairfula1586
forlorn1603
despairinga1616
hopelessa1616
unhopinga1628
lost1709
au désespoir1766
unanticipative1847
unhopeful1850
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. iv. 27 Hopelesse To haue the courtesie your Cradle promis'd. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) i. i. 157 Hopelesse and helpelesse doth Egean wend. View more context for this quotation
1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (cii. 6 Paraphr.) 500 I am as distetute and hopeless of it as the most solitary Pelican.
1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. Voy. Northern Whale-fishery 460 On this [ice-floe] they spent a dismal and hopeless night.
1884 Contemp. Rev. May 629 Is it surprising that the great army of the hopeless should forget the way to church?
2. Of or concerning which there is no hope; despaired of, desperate. Also in weakened use: ineffectual, inadequate, unable to stand up for oneself; incompetent, stupid.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > desperate state or condition > [adjective]
deplorate1544
deplored1559
hopeless1566
hopelost1570
insperable1623
deplorable1684
gone duck1830
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > despair, hopelessness > desperate state or condition > [adjective] > of states or events
deplorate1544
deplored1559
hopeless1566
despaired1597
insperable1623
despaired of1635
gone duck1830
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > [adjective] > lacking resourcefulness
unshifty1570
shiftless1584
boss1599
helpless1620
unshiftable1622
self-helpless1634
foisonless1721
feckless1773
resourceless1787
weirdless1821
hopeless1854
fibreless1864
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Fv He..keepes it well, and warylye To helpe in hopelesse tyde.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 28 Laocoon..al hoaples Hee striues.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 87. ⁋2 A sign of hopeless depravity, that though good advice was given, it wrought no reformation.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vii. 185 He recovered from maladies which seemed hopeless.
1854 E. Twisleton Let. 23 Oct. (1928) xiii. 245 Prussia is as fainéant as ever, and seems quite hopeless.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. v. 296 To reconcile the chronology is hopeless.
1922 W. S. Maugham Writer's Notebk. (1949) 188 ‘You can't do a thing for people like that,’ he said. ‘They're hopeless.’
1932 R. Lehmann Invit. Waltz iii. xiv. 240 But of course Mum's hopeless. She thinks virgins are sacred to all men.
1963 ‘D. Cory’ Hammerhead ii. 26 ‘Who's this..?’ ‘That's Cary Grant, you are hopeless, Johnny.’
1967 O. Norton Now lying Dead i. 3 ‘I'm hopeless,’ she went on. ‘I made a teapot once. It looked dinky. Only it wouldn't pour, don't you see.’
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > [adjective] > not hoped for
unhopeda1382
untristed1387
hopeless1590
unhoped1598
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. v. sig. Gg5 His watry eies..He vp gan lifte toward the azure skies, From whence descend all hopelesse remedies.
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iv. 160 Giuing thanks to God for so hopelesse a deliuerance.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.1566