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

But if that was the case, then McLaren was the hopeless character who forgot to bolt the back door.

From The Wall Street Journal

Barnaby Joyce, a member of the Nationals, which mainly represents regional communities, said: "We spent $96m to put a B at the end of the Bom site. It's now bomb, it's hopeless."

From BBC

And when things feel hopeless, we step outside our door and watch the golden light stream through our old California elm.

From Los Angeles Times

Raimondo called the situation far from hopeless, noting that there is bipartisan recognition of the problem.

From Barron's

"But now in this day and age, when I feel like the world and people should know better, it is beyond disappointing and sometimes I feel like we feel so hopeless," she says.

From BBC

Related Words

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