# hopeless

/ˈhoʊpɫəs/ (US) · /hˈəʊpləs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/hopeless
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. feeling no hope

adjective · CEFR B1

feeling that nothing good will happen and that a situation is impossible to change.

For teachers: despairing or devoid of expectation; used to describe a person's internal emotional state regarding the future.

- After weeks of bad news, he felt hopeless about finding a new job.
- The refugees felt increasingly hopeless as the winter approached and the peace negotiations showed no signs of progress.

### 2. impossible to solve

adjective · CEFR B1

describing a situation that is so bad it cannot be fixed or improved.

For teachers: providing no grounds for hope or improvement; describing an objective situation that is beyond remedy.

- The car was in such a bad accident that the mechanics said it was a hopeless case.
- The legal team eventually conceded that their appeal was a hopeless cause given the overwhelming evidence presented by the prosecution.

### 3. not skilled

adjective · CEFR B2 · Informal

very bad at doing something; having no talent for a specific task.

For teachers: completely lacking in skill or aptitude for a particular activity. Often used with the preposition 'at'.

- I am hopeless at cooking, so I usually just order pizza.
- Despite his passion for the sport, he admitted he was hopeless at tennis and could rarely hit the ball over the net.

Usage: Usually followed by the preposition 'at' and a noun or gerund.

## Examples

- The situation looked hopeless after the heavy rain flooded the fields.
- Despite their hopeless situation, the trapped miners remained calm and waited for the rescue team to arrive.
- The protagonist's hopeless struggle against the bureaucratic machine serves as a central theme in the novel, highlighting the futility of individual resistance.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.