hopeless
English
Etymology
hope + -less, compare Swedish hopplös.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhoʊplɪs/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhəʊplɪs/
- Hyphenation: hope‧less
Audio (US): (file)
Adjective
hopeless (comparative more hopeless, superlative most hopeless)
- Without hope; despairing; not expecting anything positive.
- William Shakespeare
- I am a woman, friendless, hopeless.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 15, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
- William Shakespeare
- Giving no ground of hope; promising nothing desirable; desperate.
- a hopeless cause
- Without talent, not skilled
- He's a hopeless writer, but can draw very well.
- (of an adverse condition) Incurable.
- She is a hopeless romantic.
- He is a hopeless idler.
Usage notes
- Nouns to which "hopeless" is often applied: case, situation, romantic, love, cause, person, despair, life, undertaking, alcoholic, man, endeavor, place, pain, agony, project.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Translations
destitute of hope; having no expectation of good; despairing
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desperate — see desperate
without talent — see talentless
not skilled — see nonskilled
incurable — see incurable
References
- “hopeless”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “hopeless”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “hopeless”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.