| 单词 | despair |
| 释义 | despair —despairer, n. /di spair"/, n. 1. loss of hope; hopelessness. 2. someone or something that causes hopelessness: He is the despair of his mother. v.i. 3. to lose, give up, or be without hope (often fol. by of): to despair of humanity. v.t. 4. Obs. to give up hope of. [1275-1325; ME despeir (n.), despeiren (v.) < AF despeir, OF despoir (n.), despeir-, tonic s. of desperer (v.) < L desperare to be without hope, equiv. to de- DE- + sperare to hope, deriv. of spes hope] Syn. 1. gloom, disheartenment. DESPAIR, DESPERATION, DESPONDENCY, DISCOURAGEMENT, HOPELESSNESS refer to a state of mind caused by circumstances that seem too much to cope with. DESPAIR suggests total loss of hope, which may be passive or may drive one to furious efforts, even if at random: in the depths of despair; courage born of despair. DESPERATION is usually an active state, the abandonment of hope impelling to a furious struggle against adverse circumstances, with utter disregard of consequences: an act of desperation when everything else had failed. DESPONDENCY is a state of deep gloom and disheartenment: a spell of despondency. DISCOURAGEMENT is a loss of courage, hope, and ambition because of obstacles, frustrations, etc.: His optimism yielded to discouragement. HOPELESSNESS is a loss of hope so complete as to result in a more or less permanent state of passive despair: a state of hopelessness and apathy. Ant. 1. hope. |
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