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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 There are so many hopeless people out there struggling right now financially and with providing for their families. Jordan Greene, People.com, 18 Mar. 2025 Sabah had a hopeless prognosis: severe brain edema. Ayesha Khan, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025 And for being a world-renowned psychiatrist, isn’t Taylor awfully quick to write off people as hopeless cases? Nick Caruso, TVLine, 7 Mar. 2025 No Other Land is a living document of a people being systematically erased, as well as a cry for intervention, one that grows more hopeless and dispirited as the film goes on. Joe Reid, Vulture, 28 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for hopeless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hopeless
Adjective
  • But after bouts of food poisoning on her vacation, she was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 23 Mar. 2025
  • Wynn suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable eye disease.
    Alex Isenstadt, Axios, 16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Val did something special with a typical 1980s cynical rebel/wisecracker role, giving his character a layer of big brother warmth.
    KiMi Robinson, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
  • On the movie front, Viola Davis is an endangered POTUS in G20, Tom Hardy plays a cynical detective in Havoc, and documentary subjects include the Stranger Things stage production, the Milwaukee Brewers’ 1982 season and the Disney cult classic A Goofy Movie.
    Ryan Schwartz, TVLine, 31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Access is impossible, and information is not forthcoming in the village either: Locals do not seem to appreciate people asking questions about the tuna business, which is shrouded by a mafia-like code of silence.
    Julia Amberger, Nanni Fontana, Marzio Mian, & Nicola Scevola (Tr. Elettra Pauletto), The Dial, 3 Apr. 2025
  • As a leader, don't hesitate to challenge your team to achieve what seems impossible—beneath the initial resistance often lies the opportunity for their most fulfilling professional experiences.
    Jack Zenger, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • With the Red Army closing in, such gatherings, expressions of a desperate gaiety, a fin d’une époque efflorescence, weren’t rare.
    James Wood, New Yorker, 7 Apr. 2025
  • Early in the fourth quarter, the desperate Gamecocks ramping up the pressure, Bueckers came curling off a dribble handoff from Sarah Strong.
    Marcus Thompson II, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • But Atletico regained a foothold and deservedly equalised around the half-hour mark, when Alvarez produced his own curling effort past the despairing dive of Madrid’s ex-Atleti No 1 Thibaut Courtois.
    Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
  • Reduced to occasionally doing commercials for used cars, and spending most of his days drinking, despairing, and sporadically playing Russian roulette in a retirement home for actors, the curmudgeonly Montana has a death wish that only sheer luck has kept him from fulfilling.
    Joe Leydon, Variety, 5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Kwong grew up hearing stories of every kind about Manzanar—scary, sad, funny and infuriating.
    Rachel Ng, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Mar. 2025
  • Yet, whatever the deal means for Paul, Weiss, its acquiescence to Trump marks a sad day for the legal profession—or what once was a profession, and is now just another business.
    Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • What causes bear markets? Bear markets tend to happen when investors are feeling particularly pessimistic about the future of the economy.
    Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 7 Apr. 2025
  • Even the most Maga-loving people in my world are getting a bit pessimistic.
    David Rae, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Despite his close relationship with Trump, Elon Musk is unhappy about tariffs, which stand to hurt the business empire of the world’s richest man.
    Danielle Chemtob, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025
  • There have even been reports of police being called to deal with the rowdy behavior, not to mention some theater employees who are unhappy about the cleanup required.
    Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 8 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Hopeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopeless. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.

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