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hopelessness

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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    From hopeless + -ness.

    Pronunciation

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    • Audio (US):(file)

    Noun

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    hopelessness (countable and uncountable, plural hopelessnesses)

    1. A lack of hope.
      1. (of a person's outlook) The state of having no hope, being unhopeful.
        Synonyms: despair, desperation, despondency; see also Thesaurus:hopelessness
        Antonyms: hopefulness, hope, optimism, Panglossianism, Pollyannaism
        Coordinate terms: cynicalness, cynicism, realisticness, realism
        Near-synonym: pessimism
        • 2022 August 23, Dani Blum, “How Can I Tell if I’m Depressed or Burned Out?”, in The New York Times‎[1], archived from the original on 31 August 2022:
          Depression can induce an overwhelming sense of sadness and hopelessness.
        • 2023 February 13, Deidre McPhillips, “Teens, especially girls, are experiencing more violence, suicidal thoughts and mental health challenges, CDC survey finds”, in CNN‎[2]:
          The survey found increasing mental health challenges, experiences of violence, and suicidal thoughts and behavior among all teens. More than 40% of high school students said that feelings of sadness or hopelessness prevented them from engaging in their regular activities for at least two weeks of the year.
        • 2025 February 18, Vera Papisova, “I Spent Nearly a Year on a Conservative Dating App as a Liberal—Here’s What I Learned”, in Cosmopolitan‎[3]:
          On the app I’d ultimately go with, I presented myself truthfully, as a Republican-curious woman tired of the Democrats’ hopelessness and constant pivoting during a highly charged election year.
      2. (of something's or someone's value to the speaker) Lack of potential.
        Coordinate terms: uselessness, worthlessness
        He considered the former tooling hopeless, and he reported its hopelessness to his boss right away.

    Derived terms

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    Translations

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