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hope against hope

Idioms

Hope or wish for with little reason or justification, as in I'm hoping against hope that someone will return my wallet. This expression, based on the biblical “Who against hope believed in hope” (Romans 4:18), was first recorded in 1813.

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.

I occasionally use a cane, and I hope against hope to proceed no further along what I count as the three stages of physical aging—cane, walker, wheelchair.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

Vulnerability unites not only Bastian and Fito, but all of us witnessing their story who hope against hope that compassion will somehow win the day.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2025

And on election night, as his prophecies came true one after another, he got upgraded from “I don’t know this guy but I hope against hope that he’s right” to Nostradamus.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2024

No bodies were ever found, and she continues to hope against hope, she said, that they will turn up alive in some distant prison.

From New York Times • Jul. 31, 2022

I hope against hope that he’s not going to wherever Olly and Kara and their mom are.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023