despondency

Loss of hope

Despondency is a state of deep discouragement or dejection, the feeling that hope has drained away.

It suggests something heavier than mere sadness—a loss of spirit or will to continue: After months of rejection letters, despondency set in.

The word often implies a settled gloom rather than a passing mood.

emotional-state

despair

Total absence of hope

hopelessnessState without hope
dejectionState of lowness
melancholySubdued, lasting sadness

sorrow · gloom · misery · anguish · heartache · woe · grief · unhappiness · bleakness · desolation

loss-of-drive

discouragement

Loss of confidence

demoralizationLoss of confidence and hope
disheartenmentLoss of hope or confidence
demotivationLoss of drive

dispiritedness · deflation · listlessness · apathy · lethargy · inertia · passivity · torpor · languor · enervation

outlook

pessimism

Expecting unfavorable outcomes

fatalismDoctrine of inevitable outcomes
cynicismDistrust of human sincerity
nihilismRejection of objective meaning

negativity · bleakness · defeatism · resignation · disillusionment · futility · doubt · foreboding · distrust · skepticism

surrender

resignation

Voluntary relinquishment of position

defeatVictory over another
capitulationComplete yielding to demands
submissionYielding to another's will

acquiescence · helplessness · powerlessness · concession · abdication · yielding · succumbing · collapse · breakdown · withdrawal

expression

sighing

Audible breath of emotion

weepingShedding tears audibly
cryingEmotional tear release
sobbingConvulsive crying aloud

moping · brooding · slouching · frowning · tears · silence · isolation · withdrawal · heaviness

Categories

emotionsjoy, anger, fear, sadness, love
griefgrief, mourning, bereavement, sorrow, grieving
despairdespair, hopelessness, desolation, dejection, anguish
melancholysadness, sorrow, gloom, woe, dejection
sadnesssad, unhappy, grief, sorrowful, heartbroken
sufferingagony, anguish, misery, pain, torment

Opposites

emotional state

despondencyjoy

Intense positive emotion

elation · euphoria · jubilation · happiness · ecstasy

orientation toward the future

despondencyhopefulness

Expectation of positive outcomes

hope · optimism · confidence · sanguinity · faith

psychological energy and vitality

despondencyexuberance

Lively, unrestrained enthusiasm

vivacity · vitality · spiritedness · animation · ebullience

Family

despondent, despondently, despondence

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G