despair1 noundespair2 verb
despairde‧spair1 /dɪˈspeə $ -ˈsper/ ●●○ noun [uncountable] 
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Dan was in despair. Everything seemed to be going wrong.
- He gazed at the confusion around him and was overwhelmed by a feeling of despair.
- I could see hunger, exhaustion and despair in their eyes.
- I could understand her despair at her homelessness.
- It seems that he had reached the depths of despair, and he finally took his own life.
- Left all alone in her room, she was in despair.
- Separation from someone you love can bring loneliness and despair.
- There was a mood of despair about the quality of urban and industrial life.
- A cry of despair was turned into a Declaration for Democracy.
- As noted above, the Potion of Healing and the Amulet of Coal can also cause despair.
- Once, in a moment of despair, he snapped his Bible shut and squashed them to a paste.
- Strong words which no one would contradict with confidence, even if despair was regarded as an emotion which should never be admitted.
- The Raiders are realizing the depth of their despair, caused by losing three of their first four games.
- The tears came, and rapidly dissolved her angry expression to one of utter despair.
- They often remain in a state of despair that the world at large and their nearest friends and relatives treat them so badly.
THESAURUS
a sad feeling, caused especially when a happy time is ending, or when you feel sorry about someone else’s unhappiness: · Charles felt a great sense of sadness and loss.· I noticed a little sadness in her eyes.
the unhappy feeling you have when you are in a very difficult or unpleasant situation, especially when this lasts for a long time: · After years of unhappiness, she finally decided to leave him.· She was a tense, nervous young woman, whose deep unhappiness was obvious to all those around her.· You do not know how much pain and unhappiness you have caused.
written the feeling of being very sad, especially because someone has died or because terrible things have happened to you: · There seemed to be nowhere to go to be alone with her sorrow.· His heart was filled with great sorrow after her death.
great unhappiness, caused especially by living or working in very bad conditions: · The cold weather is with us again and the misery of the homeless is increasing.· Thousands of families were destined to a life of misery.· The misery and pain he caused were, for him, merely a measure of his success.
a feeling of great unhappiness, because very bad things have happened and you have no hope that anything will change: · At the end of the month, she still had no job and was tired, frustrated, and close to despair.
great sadness that you feel when someone you love has died: · He was overcome with grief when his wife died.
a strong feeling of great sadness, especially because you miss someone you love: · She remembered the heartache of the first Christmas spent away from her sons.
a mental illness that makes someone feel so unhappy that they have no energy or hope for the future, and they cannot live a normal life: · He slipped into a depression in which he hardly ate or even left his room.
formal a feeling of being very unhappy and without hope: · She felt useless, and this contributed to her despondency.
literary a feeling of sadness, that you feel even though there is no particular reason for it: · Modigliani expressed his melancholy through his painting.
Longman Language Activatora feeling that it is useless to hope · After a few weeks, our confidence that our embassy had heard of our plight gave way to hopelessness.hopelessness of · Suddenly he saw the utter futility and hopelessness of his mission.sense of hopelessness · Who can really imagine the sense of hopelessness felt by people who commit suicide?
an extremely unhappy feeling you have when your situation is so bad that you have stopped hoping: · Separation from someone you love can bring loneliness and despair.· He gazed at the confusion around him and was overwhelmed by a feeling of despair.be in despair: · Dan was in despair. Everything seemed to be going wrong.
a sad feeling a sad feeling, caused especially when a happy time is ending, or when you feel sorry about someone else's unhappiness: · Her eyes were full of sadness.with (great) sadness: · I remembered with great sadness all the friends I had left behind.sense of sadness: · After her death, Charles felt a great sense of sadness and loss.
the unhappy feeling you have when you are in a very difficult or unpleasant situation: · After years of unhappiness, she finally decided to leave him.· There is no doubt that unhappiness contributes to ill health.· You've no idea what unhappiness you cause your parents when you say that you want to leave home.
especially written great sadness that you feel when someone you love has died: · Thousands of people sent floral tributes as an expression of their grief.· He was overcome with grief when his wife died.
a mental illness that makes someone feel so unhappy that they have no energy or hope for the future, and they cannot live a normal life: · The family had a history of alcoholism and depression.· Mild symptoms of anxiety and depression are often associated with social difficulties.deep/severe depression: · My father had suffered from severe depression for many years.
a feeling of sadness that is not very serious, that you get sometimes for no particular reason: get/have the blues: · I often get the blues in February, before the spring arrives.a fit of the blues: · It's very common for new mothers to have a fit of the blues after giving birth.the Monday/post-Christmas etc blues: · Most people know what it's like to have the Monday morning blues.
great unhappiness, caused especially by living or working in very bad conditions: · The high interest rates caused misery for millions of people.the misery of something/somebody: · He talked openly about the misery of his marriage.· We cannot ignore the misery of the people in this country who are forced to live on the streets.
written a feeling of sadness, especially one that continues for a long time: · He was a strange man, prone to melancholy and bouts of drinking.· Jake was fourteen and suffering from adolescent melancholy.
written the feeling of being very sad, especially because someone has died or because terrible things have happened to you: · deep/great sorrow: · The deep sorrow she felt was obvious in the expression of her face.in sorrow: · He turned quickly away, more in sorrow than in anger.to somebody's sorrow: · Six weeks later we heard, to our great sorrow, that he had died.
a feeling of unhappiness and worry, that often continues for a long time and is usually caused by problems in your personal life and relationships: · Her relationship with Tyler had brought her a great deal of heartache.· Being unpopular at school can cause real heartache to children of any age.save/spare (somebody) a lot of heartache (=stop someone worrying and feeling unhappy): · If she had simply called them, her parents would have been spared a lot of heartache.
formal a feeling of unhappiness, especially because you have been very disappointed and feel that you cannot change a situation: · Robyn walked away from the hospital with a feeling of despondency.· The sense of well-being of the 1980s was replaced by a mood of despondency.gloom/doom and despondency: · The atmosphere amongst the workers was one of gloom and despondency.
a feeling of great unhappiness, because very bad things have happened and you have no hope that anything will change: · I could see hunger, exhaustion and despair in their eyes.· There was a mood of despair about the quality of urban and industrial life.in despair: · Left all alone in her room, she was in despair.the depths of despair: · It seems that he had reached the depths of despair, and he finally took his own life.
to make someone feel sad · Something at school was making her unhappy, but she didn't want to talk about it.it makes somebody sad/unhappy to do something · It made me sad to see her looking so old and ill.
to make someone feel sad and want to cry: · I'm sorry if I upset you - I didn't mean to.· The idea of having to change school seemed to upset him more than we thought it would.it upsets somebody to do something: · Her father died when she was ten, and it still upsets her to think about it.
if a situation or event saddens someone, it makes them feel sad, especially because they think that this type of situation or event should not happen: · Everyone was saddened by the news that housing is to be built on the fields beside Cliff Lane.· Those of us who knew him are shocked and saddened by his death.it saddens somebody to do something: · Sometimes it saddened him to think that he was no longer young.it saddens somebody that : · It saddens me that there are people who go around vandalizing public places like this.
to make someone feel very sad or unhappy, especially so that they feel that only bad things happen and they cannot change the situation: · Listening to the news can really depress you, if you let it.· Shaun decided to leave. The way the others were behaving was beginning to depress him.it depresses somebody to do something: · It depressed me to think that five years ago I was earning more than I do now.
informal to gradually make someone feel unhappy and tired over a period of time: · The endless rain was beginning to get him down.· You can tell me if there's anything that's worrying you or getting you down.
to make someone very sad and upset, especially because a relationship has ended or because they are very disappointed: · When Annie left him, it broke his heart.it breaks somebody's heart (that): · It breaks my heart that his career has been ruined.it breaks somebody's heart to do something: · It would break her heart to leave the lovely old stone house where she'd lived for so long.
spoken if something is a downer , it makes you feel unhappy, especially because it is not good or successful: · I thought the movie was going to be a total downer, but it wasn't.on a downer: · The home team concluded its season on a big downer with a 2- 0 defeat.
to make someone feel very unhappy and without hope - use this especially when a bad situation is continuing and they cannot see how to change it: · There were times when the endless arguments drove him to despair.· By the time I was 17, the atmosphere at the school was driving me to despair.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
The noise from the neighbours used to drive him to despair.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She was in the depths of despair. Just thinking about the future plunged her into a pit of despair.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
(=very strong feelings of despair)
The noise from the neighbours used to drive him to despair.· A rock was loose and he fell with a sharp cry of surprise.
She was in the depths of despair. (=make someone despair)· Escalating personal debts have driven many people to despair.
· There is a new mood of optimism.
Just thinking about the future plunged her into a pit of despair.· Earlier in the day, I had been close to despair.· At the end of two weeks she was tired, frustrated, and close to despair.
· On this heady diet we move from intoxicating anticipation to deep despair.· Seeing only these two possible alternatives, she was filled with a deep despair about ever having a life worth living.· Chrissie felt a moment's deep despair as she stared at her husband and realised, again, that he was slipping.· Friends fear that being dumped by Dan after just three months could plunge depressed Mel into deeper despair.· Many parents experience deep pain and despair about their teenage children.· These lonely hours may be the time he reaches his deepest despair.· Gabriel forgot his own sadness when he saw the bitterness and deep despair on the farmer's face.· Do not be lost in the deep darkness of despair and hopelessness.
· Evelyn had never experienced such utter despair.· The recollection induced in Converse a sense of utter despair which he found soothing.· There aren't the words. Utter despair.· He tried for years without success until finally, in utter despair, he threw himself into the kiln.· The tears came, and rapidly dissolved her angry expression to one of utter despair.
VERB· Ruth cried out in despair as his mouth and tongue teased her feminine core.
· For the first time, she felt total despair weld her to the spot.· They felt that the despair long antedated the neoplasms and that their becoming fatally ill merely confirmed what they already believed.· She felt cheated, when she should have felt despair.· Utterly without designs, equipment, opportunities, he felt incapable of despair.· I felt swamped with liquefying despair, weak enough for tears.· I could feel the despair and anger behind me.· She felt a gust of despair.· I felt sadness, despair, and a bitter rage.
· Ruth stood shaking with despair and indecision.· Stephen shook his head in despair and held out his hand.· Christie shook his head in despair.· She shook her head in despair, but said nothing.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► be the picture of health/innocence/despair etc► plumb the depths (of despair/misery/bad taste etc)
1a feeling that you have no hope at allin despair- I am sure that I was the despair of Ron's coaching life, but still he made no comment.
- The condition of humankind to which the creation story belongs is the despair of sin.
- This is not a matter of poor teaching, for such students can be the despair of conscientious teachers.
- The shocked priority of examining herself after escaping, literally, from the jaws of death, wore off.
- Ego takes great pleasure in wallowing in self-pity, and defending itself against all charges, whatever the cost to others.
- Look at the criticism for any opportunity to learn from it and to change, without wallowing in self-pity.
- What hope can they have, if they see you slumping about like a filleted herring, wallowing in self-pity?
She killed herself in despair.the depths of despair (=very strong feelings of despair) The noise from the neighbours used to drive him to despair.to the despair of somebody To the despair of the workers, the company announced the closure of the factory.2be the despair of somebody old-fashioned to make someone feel very worried, upset, or unhappy: She is the despair of her teachers.despair1 noundespair2 verb
despairdespair2 verb [intransitive] formal WORD ORIGINdespair2
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French desperer, from Latin desperare, from sperare ‘to hope’VERB TABLE
despair
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | despair |
| he, she, it | despairs | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | despaired |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have despaired |
| he, she, it | has despaired | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had despaired |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will despair |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have despaired |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am despairing |
| he, she, it | is despairing | |
| you, we, they | are despairing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was despairing |
| you, we, they | were despairing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been despairing |
| he, she, it | has been despairing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been despairing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be despairing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been despairing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- He glared at her, despairing.
- Kate despaired of ever seeing her husband again.
- You mustn't despair. Nothing is impossible.
- In fact, there is no reason for aging boomers to despair.
- Many physicists find themselves despairing of ever finding such a picture.
- The music soothed her for a while but the needle stuck in a groove suddenly and she wept in response, despairing.
- They despaired even more at his campaigning techniques.
Longman Language Activatorto stop hoping
· Some seeds take a long time to germinate, so don't lose hope if nothing happens in the first year.lose hope/give up hope of doing something · After his accident, Jack had almost given up hope of ever working again.lose hope/give up hope that · We never lost hope that our son would return one day.
to stop hoping and become extremely unhappy, because you think there is no possibility of something happening: · You mustn't despair. Nothing is impossible.· He glared at her, despairing.despair of doing something: · Kate despaired of ever seeing her husband again.
to stop hoping that you will achieve something, because you feel you have not been making much progress: · I think if he fails again he'll just lose heart and give up.· The tunnel had never been finished. Perhaps the builders lost heart and abandoned it.
use this to say that people are beginning to stop hoping that someone is safe, that something will succeed etc: · Hopes are fading, but the search for survivors of the earthquake continues.hopes are fading for: · Hopes are fading for the missing fourteen year old.
to make someone completely stop hoping that something will happen or is true: · I didn't want to dash your hopes unnecessarily.dash sb's hopes of doing something: · a shattering knee injury which dashed his hopes of playing in the World Cup
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She was in the depths of despair. Just thinking about the future plunged her into a pit of despair.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSVERB
· A rock was loose and he fell with a sharp cry of surprise.
She was in the depths of despair. (=make someone despair)· Escalating personal debts have driven many people to despair.
· There is a new mood of optimism.
Just thinking about the future plunged her into a pit of despair.· Those who no longer wish to disregard the insidious pollution and degradation of the environment are driven to despair.· Apart from any sentimental reasons, the short-notice drove many to despair.· The thought drove him to despair and drink.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► be the picture of health/innocence/despair etc► plumb the depths (of despair/misery/bad taste etc)
to feel that there is no hope at all: - The shocked priority of examining herself after escaping, literally, from the jaws of death, wore off.
- Ego takes great pleasure in wallowing in self-pity, and defending itself against all charges, whatever the cost to others.
- Look at the criticism for any opportunity to learn from it and to change, without wallowing in self-pity.
- What hope can they have, if they see you slumping about like a filleted herring, wallowing in self-pity?
Despite his illness, Ron never despaired.despair of (doing) something He despaired of ever finding her.despair of somebody My teachers began to despair of me.