hopeless
Americanadjective
-
providing no hope; beyond optimism or hope; desperate.
a hopeless cancer diagnosis.
- Synonyms:
- incurable, remediless, irremediable
-
without hope; despairing.
hopeless grief.
- Synonyms:
- dejected, disconsolate, forlorn
-
impossible to accomplish, solve, resolve, etc..
Balancing my budget is hopeless.
-
not able to perform, work, learn, or act as desired; inadequate for the purpose.
As a poker player, you're hopeless.
adjective
-
having or offering no hope
-
impossible to analyse or solve
-
unable to learn, function, etc
-
informal without skill or ability
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
Etymology
Origin of hopeless
Explanation
Someone who's hopeless believes that nothing good can happen — a happy ending seems impossible. If you realize there's no way you'll pass your biology class, it's a hopeless situation. When you're struggling to learn a new language or tackling a difficult task and feeling utterly discouraged, you can say that you're hopeless. In other words, you have no hope that things will work out the way you wish they would. A plan that's doomed to failure is also hopeless, because there's no chance that it'll be successful: "His scheme to save enough money to backpack through Europe is hopeless, because he still hasn't found a job."
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.
"It's about a moment in your life when you think everything is over and you feel hopeless," explains singer Viktoria Leléka.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
Linda Goodman’s hopeless search is just one example of such an effect.
From Slate • May 5, 2026
During that stretch, Davis has waffled between hopeless and hopeful on a weekly basis.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
This is not necessarily a hopeless situation, but it requires immediate action and sound legal guidance.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026
Nobody likes waiting for a tree to grow—that's why more people don't plant them; it seems hopeless.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
