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despairing

de·spair·ing
D d

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [dih-spair-ing]
    • /dɪˈspɛər ɪŋ/
    • /dɪˈspeər/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [dih-spair-ing]
    • /dɪˈspɛər ɪŋ/

Definitions of despairing word

  • adjective despairing marked by or resulting from despair; hopeless or desperate 3
  • adjective despairing feeling or showing despair; hopeless 3
  • adjective despairing given to despair or hopelessness. 1
  • adjective despairing indicating despair: a despairing look. 1
  • noun despairing loss of hope; hopelessness. 1
  • noun despairing someone or something that causes hopelessness: He is the despair of his mother. 1

Information block about the term

Origin of despairing

First appearance:

before 1585
One of the 35% oldest English words
First recorded in 1585-95; despair + -ing2

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Despairing

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

despairing popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 69% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

despairing usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for despairing

adj despairing

  • melancholic — disposed to or affected with melancholy; gloomy.
  • grief-stricken — overwhelmed by grief; deeply afflicted or sorrowful.
  • melancholy — sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness.
  • suicidal — pertaining to, involving, or suggesting suicide.
  • pessimistic — pertaining to or characterized by pessimism or the tendency to expect only bad outcomes; gloomy; joyless; unhopeful: His pessimistic outlook kept him from applying for jobs for which he was perfectly qualified.

adjective despairing

  • desolate — A desolate place is empty of people and lacking in comfort.
  • pained — hurt; injured.
  • despondent — If you are despondent, you are very unhappy because you have been experiencing difficulties that you think you will not be able to overcome.
  • weary — physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.; fatigued; tired: weary eyes; a weary brain.
  • long-suffering — enduring injury, trouble, or provocation long and patiently.

Antonyms for despairing

adj despairing

  • cheerful — Someone who is cheerful is happy and shows this in their behaviour.
  • joyous — joyful; happy; jubilant: the joyous sounds of children at play.
  • confident — If you are confident about something, you are certain that it will happen in the way you want it to.
  • happy — delighted, pleased, or glad, as over a particular thing: to be happy to see a person.
  • hopeful — full of hope; expressing hope: His hopeful words stimulated optimism.

Top questions with despairing

  • what does despairing mean?

See also

Matching words

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