despair

From Middle English dispeir, from Anglo-Norman despeir and Old French desperer (from Latin dēspērō, dēspērāre), or desesperer, from des- (“dis-”) + esperer (“hope”). See also desperate. Displaced native Old English ormōdnes (“despair”) and Old English ortrīewan (“to despair”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspɛɚ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
• Homophone: dispair
• Hyphenation: des‧pair

despair (third-person singular simple present despairs, present participle despairing, simple past and past participle despaired)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
   • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC:

     I would not despair the greatest design that could be attempted.

   • 1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Economy”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC:

     I sometimes despair of getting anything quite simple and honest done in this world by the help of men.

2. (transitive) To cause to despair.
   • 2019, Tim Dee, Landfill:

     Thinking of what I was despairing about despaired me further

3. (intransitive) To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation. [(often) with of]
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 1:8:

     We despaired even of life.

despair (countable and uncountable, plural despairs)

1. Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.

   Synonyms: desperation, despondency, hopelessness; see also Thesaurus:hopelessness

   Antonyms: hope, respair

   He turned around in despair, aware that he was not going to survive.

   My daughter's behavior drives me to despair.

2. That which causes despair.
3. That which is despaired of. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• Piedras, aperids, aspired, diapers, praised, pre-AIDS