hopeless

American  

[hohp-lis] / ˈhoʊp lɪs /

adjective

1. providing no hope; beyond optimism or hope; desperate.

   a hopeless cancer diagnosis.

   Synonyms:

   incurable, remediless, irremediable

2. without hope; despairing.

   hopeless grief.

   Synonyms:

   dejected, disconsolate, forlorn

3. impossible to accomplish, solve, resolve, etc..

   Balancing my budget is hopeless.

4. not able to perform, work, learn, or act as desired; inadequate for the purpose.

   As a poker player, you're hopeless.

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hopeless British  

/ ˈhəʊplɪs /

adjective

1. having or offering no hope

2. impossible to analyse or solve

3. unable to learn, function, etc

4. informal without skill or ability

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Related Words

Hopeless, despairing, despondent, desperate all describe an absence of hope. Hopeless is used of a feeling of futility and passive abandonment of oneself to fate: Hopeless and grim, he still clung to the cliff. Despairing refers to the loss of hope in regard to a particular situation, whether important or trivial; it suggests an intellectual judgment concerning probabilities: despairing of victory; despairing of finding his gloves. Despondent always suggests melancholy and depression; it refers to an emotional state rather than to an intellectual judgment: Despondent over his failing career, he fell back into substance and alcohol use. At the end of her marriage, she became despondent and suspicious. Desperate conveys a suggestion of recklessness resulting from loss of hope: As the time grew shorter, he became desperate. It may also refer to something arising from extreme need or danger: a desperate remedy; a desperate situation. See also despair.

Other Word Forms

• hopelessly adverb
• hopelessness noun

Etymology

Origin of hopeless

First recorded in 1560–70; hope + -less

Example Sentences

Mr. Harris was right all along when he said that it was hopeless, but I refused to listen to him.

From Literature

Is this a hopeless situation that we should simply accept and walk away from?

From MarketWatch

Abi, from Evesham, Worcestershire, has had cynophobia her whole life and has "never felt more trapped and hopeless" than she does right now.

From BBC

"We felt hopeless," says Holm-Aderemi, describing how they took turns carrying out searches of the streets themselves.

From BBC

I, on the other hand, fell in love with each boy in my class in turn, in a kind of hopeless, regular rhythm.

From Literature

Related Words

• desperate
• forlorn
• helpless
• impossible
• pointless
• sad
• tragic
• useless