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hopeless
[ hohp-lis ]
/ ˈhoʊp lɪs /
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adjective
providing no hope; beyond optimism or hope; desperate: a hopeless cancer diagnosis.
without hope; despairing: hopeless grief.
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.
OTHER WORDS FOR hopeless
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
synonym study for hopeless
2. 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 WORDS FROM hopeless
hope·less·ly, adverbhope·less·ness, nounWords nearby hopeless
Hope diamond, hopeful, hopefully, hopeful monster, Hopeh, hopeless, hopelessness, hopepunk, Hope springs eternal, Hopewell, hophead
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use hopeless in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for hopeless
hopeless
/ (ˈhəʊplɪs) /
adjective
having or offering no hope
impossible to analyse or solve
unable to learn, function, etc
informal without skill or ability
Derived forms of hopeless
hopelessly, adverbhopelessness, nounCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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