despair
Complete loss of hope
Despair is the complete loss of hope—a state where you see no way forward and no possibility of improvement.
The noun names this condition: She fell into despair after losing her job.
The verb means to lose hope entirely: Don't despair; things will get better.
Despair differs from sadness or discouragement by its finality—it suggests not just difficulty but impossibility.
State without hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- dejectionState of lowness
- despondencyProfound loss of hope
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
desolation · bleakness · misery · torment · suffering · grief · sorrow · depression
hopelessness
State without hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- dejectionState of lowness
- despondencyProfound loss of hope
melancholy · desolation · bleakness · misery · torment · suffering · grief · sorrow · depression · emptiness
- griefgrief, mourning, bereavement, sorrow, grieving
- despairhopelessness, desolation, despondency, dejection, anguish
- emotional statesgrief, hope, jealousy, trust, depression
- emotional tropestragedy, romance, drama, love story, tearjerker
- inner statesemotion, feeling, thought, hope, sensation
- intense emotionsrage, fury, wrath, anger, hatred
despairhope
Desire for good outcomes
hopefulness · optimism · faith · expectation · confidence
despairjoy
Intense positive emotion
happiness · elation · jubilation · exultation · rapture
- pit of despairState of profound hopelessness
- deep despair
- romantic despairAnguish over failed love
- existential despairAnguish at life's meaninglessness
- climate despairHopelessness about environmental collapse
- compare and despairJudging yourself against others negatively