despondency
/dɪˈspɒnd(ə)nsi
/noun [mass noun]
Low spirits from loss of hope or courage; dejection: an air of despondency...
- The acute sense of grief and despondency led to a deep depression of spirits that might ordinarily be expected to break the will and deflate any inspirational talent.
- The mood through the great depression of the 1930s was usually one of deep despondency in the face of mass unemployment at home and the spread of fascism abroad.
- It means to be aware that the spread of frustration, despondency and despair is actually a process in which all parties are losers.
Synonyms
disheartenment, discouragement, dispiritedness, downheartedness, low spirits, hopelessness, despair, wretchedness;
melancholy, gloom, gloominess, glumness, melancholia, misery, depression, desolation, disappointment, dolefulness, dejection, sorrow, sadness, grief, distress, unhappiness;
defeatism, pessimism;
the doldrums
informal the blues, heartache