hopeless

[hohp-lis]

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.

hopeless

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• hopelessly adverb
• hopelessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hopeless¹

First recorded in 1560–70; hope + -less

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

"The people of Gaza cannot bear that. They are devastated, exhausted, desperate and hopeless," he said.

From BBC

Everyone will do better if the next female candidate comes in with the support and resources she needs to win, rather than simply being told to fix a hopeless situation on her own.

From Salon

He shrugged off his previous criticism of the bank governor as "hopeless", telling reporters: "He's very polite, and the coffee was quite good."

From BBC

"These people become hopeless, they have no hope on getting out which can lead to violent behaviour in prisons, and we have a radical shortage of prison spaces," he said.

From BBC

A highlight of her current tour has frequently come during The Giver – where she pauses the song to read out messages from audience members about their hopeless exes.

From BBC

Related Words

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