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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective hopeless differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of hopeless are despairing, desperate, and despondent. While all these words mean "having lost all or nearly all hope," hopeless suggests despair and the cessation of effort or resistance and often implies acceptance or resignation.

the situation of the trapped miners is hopeless

When is despairing a more appropriate choice than hopeless?

The meanings of despairing and hopeless largely overlap; however, despairing suggests the slipping away of all hope and often despondency.

despairing appeals for the return of the kidnapped child

In what contexts can desperate take the place of hopeless?

While the synonyms desperate and hopeless are close in meaning, desperate implies despair that prompts reckless action or violence in the face of defeat or frustration.

one last desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle

When can despondent be used instead of hopeless?

While in some cases nearly identical to hopeless, despondent implies a deep dejection arising from a conviction of the uselessness of further effort.

despondent about yet another rejection

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hopeless For individuals dealing with depression, waiting weeks or even months for relief can feel overwhelming and hopeless. Helen I. Bennett, Hartford Courant, 21 Mar. 2025 Many have expressed concerns over the wave of state laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care, which has made finding treatment more difficult and left many feeling hopeless. Dr. Alice Gao, ABC News, 17 Mar. 2025 But then there are callers with questions the sisters can’t just look up or patch through — those in distress or angry or hopeless. Giovanna Dell’orto, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025 Previewing the playoffs with a playoff team draft Finding 3 positive thoughts for each of the NHL’s 15 most hopeless teams 16 stats: Blues’ turnaround, Lane Hutson’s stardom and Stars’ struggles Comments D Dan N. · 4h 17m ago Helle is thee best. Scott Powers, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hopeless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hopeless
Adjective
  • Garden roses can also pick up the incurable rose rosette disease from wild-growing multiflora roses—an invasive rose with five-petaled, white flowers.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Her uncle was diagnosed with an incurable cancer, though he's been able to manage it by overhauling his diet in conjunction with regular chemotherapy rounds.
    Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Lee’s cynical cardsharp of a brother, Julius (Jacob Elordi), was meant to be part of that dream move, but the call of gambling takes Julius to Las Vegas instead.
    Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Now, posters are more cynical and there’s a fatalist bent to the conversations that wasn’t there before.
    Fortesa Latifi, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • As is often the problem with biopics of all kinds — jukebox musical or not — the sheer scope of a life is impossible to capture in a mere 2 hour runtime.
    Shania Russell, EW.com, 27 Apr. 2025
  • And after dark, the dealers were impossible to miss: short young men in hoodies and women in pajama pants, slinking around corners with side packs.
    Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The Escape As terror swept through the city, thousands of desperate Alawites fled.
    Christina Goldbaum, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2025
  • The quiet city of Medford, Oregon was shaken by Maggie Friar's desperate 911 call in the early morning hours of Oct. 2, 2017.
    Natalie Morales, Richard Fetzer, CBS News, 19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • These lines represent Elisabeth at her most despairing.
    Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Apr. 2025
  • By turns giddy, anxious, and despairing, these poems have endeared him to generations of ordinary readers who find in the tempestuous and ultimately brokenhearted poet a strikingly modern and profoundly accessible figure.
    Daniel Mendelsohn, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Though the courts have not invariably ruled against Trump, the Administration’s record so far is, to use one of the President’s favorite words, sad.
    Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
  • The sad story of Alex Verdugo was one of the most puzzling dramas of the MLB offseason.
    Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • This marks the most pessimistic attitude on jobs that Gallup has recorded since January 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Kate Plummer, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Apr. 2025
  • Both predictions are more pessimistic than the fund’s January projections, which came before Trump’s flurry of tariff announcements took America’s average import tax to its highest level in a century.
    Olesya Dmitracova, CNN Money, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Some 59% of voters are unhappy with how things are going in the country.
    Dana Blanton, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2025
  • Particularly now that Americans are unhappy with the state of economy.
    Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hopeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopeless. Accessed 2 May. 2025.

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