1
as in incurable
not capable of being cured or reformed
a hopeless optimist who looked for the good in everyone and everything was a hopeless romantic who never stopped looking for a soul mate
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cynical
emphasizing or expecting the worst
the poor woman was feeling hopeless about ever finding her lost cat
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in impossible
incapable of being solved or accomplished
keeping this desk organized is hopeless
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in desperate
feeling or showing no hope
the hopeless look on the faces of the fans as the other team scored again
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Eagles frequently feature in Tolkien’s stories, often swooping in and saving other characters from seemingly hopeless situations.
—
Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 5 May 2025
Patients in the study described feeling hopeless and disheartened, less confident and less competent.
—Indu Subramanian, The Conversation, 1 May 2025
All seemed hopeless for Moore and Mansell, until, out of the blue, a lawyer with the Office of the White House Counsel contacted Moore’s defense lawyers, Seitles and Litwin-Diego, in April to inquire about the case.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 30 May 2025
The longtime psych-rock staple co-wrote the album with filmmaker Matt Yoka to be a collection of American stories about hopeless kleptomaniacs, urban explorers, and other people who slip through the cracks.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hopeless
Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 5 May 2025
Patients in the study described feeling hopeless and disheartened, less confident and less competent.
—Indu Subramanian, The Conversation, 1 May 2025
All seemed hopeless for Moore and Mansell, until, out of the blue, a lawyer with the Office of the White House Counsel contacted Moore’s defense lawyers, Seitles and Litwin-Diego, in April to inquire about the case.
—Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 30 May 2025
The longtime psych-rock staple co-wrote the album with filmmaker Matt Yoka to be a collection of American stories about hopeless kleptomaniacs, urban explorers, and other people who slip through the cracks.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 30 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for hopeless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hopeless
Adjective
-
All of this comes amid reports that King Charles’ cancer is reportedly incurable, but manageable.—
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz,
StyleCaster,
16 June 2025
-
The diagnosis hit hard: stage 4 incurable metastatic breast cancer.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 June 2025
Adjective
-
Mamdani proposes to pay for these splendid gifts to the city’s voters by raising taxes even further on the city’s top income earners, in the cynical belief that those who make up his tax base are stuck there, cannot flee, and are thus cows to be helplessly milked.—
The Editors,
National Review,
25 June 2025
-
Too often, leaders are stuck between moral maximalism and cynical cost-cutting.—
HEC Paris Insights,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
The exponential growth of data from observability and monitoring has made human analysis nearly impossible.—
Peter High,
Forbes.com,
26 June 2025
-
Her latest volume, the National Book Award winner Something About Living, is full of impossible cohesions, offering this straight-on singularity of body and mind to birds, grammars, and architectures.—
Cindy Juyoung Ok
June 26,
Literary Hub,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Someone who's absolutely desperate, just seeing that there's no other choice.—
Sasha Pezenik,
ABC News,
18 June 2025
-
Sitting sixth in the general classification (GC) entering the final stage, Seixas was desperate to hold onto his top 10, despite the relaxed expectations going in.—
Jacob Whitehead,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
Adjective
-
The arc of the subject’s life is evoked through steadily darkening, tightening mood, with certain scenes and setups replicated to variously despairing effect, from tacitly shifting points of view.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
28 May 2025
-
That same investigation may find the veteran was despairing, had just gone through a divorce or something along those lines.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
Two screenshots from the video showing Ollie was a sad facial expression.—
Lucy Notarantonio,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 June 2025
-
The building directly across the street stands in sad disrepair, its windows smashed, swathed in graffiti, a front garage door hangs half-open.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
19 June 2025
Adjective
-
The survey — which sampled 1,265 registered voters June 5-9 — also found that Americans are pessimistic about the likelihood that a ceasefire will be achieved soon.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
12 June 2025
-
Pessimism — and yet hope Altogether, the administration's actions — and pledges to cut funding for NIH grants by more than 40% next year — have many researchers pessimistic about the prospects of developing an HIV vaccine anytime soon.—
Jonathan Lambert,
NPR,
10 June 2025
Adjective
-
The root of the fallout was the Who (and specifically Daltrey) being unhappy with Starkey’s performance when the band played a pair of Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
22 June 2025
-
On Friday, Devers alluded to being unhappy with how the Red Sox treated him.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
20 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hopeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopeless. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share