despair
- 01 C1 Advanced
a person or thing that causes you to lose all hope.
a person, thing, or situation that is a source of hopelessness or frustration.
Simple“The broken-down car was the despair of the mechanic, who couldn't find the part.”
In context“The unruly garden was the despair of the elderly couple, who could no longer manage the aggressive weeds and overgrown hedges.”
“Crossing 1.5°C is a call for greater action, not despair.”
“Miguel Chaiwa scored a stoppage-time own goal as Hibernian suffered Conference League playoff despair for the second year running in a 3-2 home defeat by Gent.”
From Middle English dispeir, from Anglo-Norman despeir and Old French desperer (from Latin dēspērō, dēspērāre), or desesperer, from des- (“dis-”) + esperer (“hope”). See also desperate. Displaced native Old English ormōdnes (“despair”) and Old English ortrīewan (“to despair”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.