hopeless
Certain to fail
Hopeless describes a situation or person without hope—where no good outcome seems possible.
A hopeless case cannot be saved or improved.
Someone hopeless at math lacks any aptitude for it.
The word can express resigned affection: He's a hopeless romantic.
Hopelessness may be objective (a hopeless prognosis) or subjective (feeling hopeless about the future).
Doubting human goodness
- defeatistOne expecting inevitable failure
- fatalisticBelieving events are inevitable
- nihilisticRejecting meaningful existence
- despondentDeeply discouraged, hopeless
gloomy · negative · disheartened · bleak outlook · doom and gloom · glass half empty · resigned · disillusioned
Profound loss of hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- miseryIntense prolonged distress
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
grief · heartache · melancholy · dejection · woe · distress · forlorn · helplessness
Death by water inhalation
- helplessUnable to act independently
- powerlessLacking strength or authority
- crushedCompressed into fragments
- paralyzedUnable to move voluntarily
defeated · swamped · overcome · at wit's end · desperate · sinking · engulfed · lost
Lacking skill or competence
- clumsyLacking physical coordination
- bunglingMishandling through incompetence
- incapableLacking requisite ability
- uselessWithout practical value
ham-fisted · all thumbs · hapless · bumbling · beyond help · unteachable · lost cause
Lack of purpose
- pointlessLacking any purpose
- uselessWithout practical value
- vainExcessively proud or futile
- fruitlessProducing no useful outcome
unavailing · ineffective · unproductive · to no avail · lost cause · unsuccessful · abortive · purposeless
Lacking good fortune
- lucklessWithout good fortune
- ill-fatedDestined to fail
- jinxedAfflicted with misfortune
- ill-starredFated to fail
doomed · star-crossed · cursed · snakebitten · woebegone
cynical
Doubting human goodness
- defeatistOne expecting inevitable failure
- fatalisticBelieving events are inevitable
- nihilisticRejecting meaningful existence
despondent · gloomy · negative · disheartened · bleak outlook · doom and gloom · glass half empty · resigned · disillusioned · jaded
despondency
Profound loss of hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- miseryIntense prolonged distress
sorrow · grief · heartache · melancholy · dejection · woe · distress · forlorn · helplessness · suffering
drowning
Death by water inhalation
- helplessUnable to act independently
- powerlessLacking strength or authority
- crushedCompressed into fragments
paralyzed · defeated · swamped · overcome · at wit's end · desperate · sinking · engulfed · lost · overwhelmed
inept
Lacking skill or competence
- clumsyLacking physical coordination
- bunglingMishandling through incompetence
- incapableLacking requisite ability
useless · ham-fisted · all thumbs · hapless · bumbling · beyond help · unteachable · lost cause
futility
Lack of purpose
fruitless · unavailing · ineffective · unproductive · to no avail · lost cause · unsuccessful · abortive · purposeless · in vain
hapless
Lacking good fortune
ill-starred · doomed · star-crossed · cursed · snakebitten · woebegone
- moodshappy, sad, angry, anxious, excited
- dispiritingdemoralizing, discouraging, disheartening, dispiriting, deflating
- futilefutile, useless, pointless, fruitless, vain
- giving upgive up, giving up, quit, quitting, surrender
- negative tonesangry, bitter, cynical, hostile, resentful
- negative adjectivesawful, bad, cruel, dumb, evil
hopelesshopeful
Feeling positive expectation
optimistic · expectant · sanguine · buoyant · confident
hopelesspromising
Showing signs of success
curable · remediable · fixable · encouraging · auspicious
hopelesscurable
Able to be healed
fixable · salvageable · remediable · redeemable · saveable
- hopeless romanticPerson seeking idealized love
- hopeless caseBeyond any possibility of improvement