despondency
Americannoun
Synonym Usage
See despair.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of despondency
Explanation
Despondency is a sad emotional state — much like depression. If you're in a state of despondency, you're feeling hopeless and super bummed out. Despondency is one of many emotional states that are not pleasant — it's a kind of extreme sadness. Stubbing your toe wouldn't trigger despondency, but the death of a family member or friend might. When people lose their jobs or experience failure, despondency can happen — they feel despondent. Despondency can include not only sadness, but feelings of hopelessness. It's a terrible way to feel, and it's not easy to get over it.
Vocabulary lists containing despondency
A Wrinkle in Time
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Bill Parcells' Hall of Fame Induction Speech
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The Gene
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despondency is the reserve of the major league club.
From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2018
Archibald MacLeish wrote in 1955: "We have entered the Age of Despondency, with the Age of Desperation just around the corner."
From Time Magazine Archive
Despondency had come upon her there in the wakeful night and had never lifted.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
Despondency, nevertheless, can be corrected more easily than pride, since the former is an emotion of sorrow, while the latter is an emotion of joy, and is therefore stronger than the former.
From The Philosophy of Spinoza by Ratner, Joseph
Despondency is an incapacity for the present exercise of hope; despair is the utter abandonment of hope.
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
