Despair

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Despair \De*spair"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Despaired}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Despairing}.] [OE. despeiren, dispeiren, OF.
     desperer, fr. L. desperare; de- + sperare to hope; akin to
     spes hope, and perh. to spatium space, E. space, speed; cf.
     OF. espeir hope, F. espoir. Cf. {Prosper}, {Desperate}.]
     To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or


     expectation; -- often with of.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           We despaired even of life.               --2 Cor. i. 8.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Never despair of God's blessings here.   --Wake.
  
     Syn: See {Despond}.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Despair \De*spair"\, v. t.
     1. To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
        [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I would not despair the greatest design that could
              be attempted.                         --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To cause to despair. [Obs.] --Sir W. Williams.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Despair \De*spair"\, n. [Cf. OF. despoir, fr. desperer.]
     1. Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We in dark dreams are tossing to and fro,
              Pine with regret, or sicken with despair. --Keble.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Before he [Bunyan] was ten, his sports were
              interrupted by fits of remorse and despair.
                                                    --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. That which is despaired of. "The mere despair of surgery
        he cures." --Shak.
  
     Syn: Desperation; despondency; hopelessness.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  despair
       n 1: a state in which everything seems wrong and will turn out
            badly; "they were rescued from despair at the last
            minute" [syn: {desperation}]
       2: the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn
          out well [ant: {hope}]
       v : abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart; "Don't despair--help
           is on the way!" [ant: {hope}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  98 Moby Thesaurus words for "despair":
     Schmerz, Slough of Despond, abandon, abandon hope, acedia,
     aching heart, agony, agony of mind, anguish, apathy, bale,
     become suicidal, bitterness, blank despondency, bleeding heart,
     broken heart, cave of Trophonius, cave of despair, crushing,
     death wish, dejectedness, dejection, depression, depth of misery,
     desolation, despair of, desperateness, desperation, despond,
     despondency, despondentness, disconsolateness, discouragement,
     disheartenment, dispiritedness, distress, down trip, downcastness,
     downer, downheartedness, droop, drooping spirits, drop, extremity,
     falter, forlornness, give up, give up hope, give way, gloom,
     gloominess, grief, heartache, heartlessness, heavy heart,
     hit rock bottom, hopelessness, infelicity, languish, lose heart,
     lose hope, low spirits, lowness, lowness of spirit, malaise,
     melancholia, melancholy, miserableness, misery, no exit, no way,
     no way out, oppression, pessimism, plumb the depths, prostration,
     quit, reach the depths, relinquish, renounce, resign, resignation,
     sadness, self-destructive urge, sink, sink into despair,
     sinking heart, sloth, spiritlessness, suicidal despair, surrender,
     taedium vitae, touch bottom, weariness of life, woe, wretchedness,
     yield, yield to despair