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 soulmate
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cynical
emphasizing or expecting the worst
the poor woman was feeling hopeless about ever finding her lost cat
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3
as in impossible
incapable of being solved or accomplished
keeping this desk organized is hopeless
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4
as in desperate
feeling or showing no hope
the hopeless look on the faces of the fans as the other team scored again
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hopeless
If the key is taken to be some primordial tradition, echoing faintly across world literature after tens of millennia, any effort to pin it down looks hopeless.
—
Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Throughout the 1970s, as much as Nicholson’s rebels or Beatty’s hopeless romantics, Keaton’s optimistic dreamers repeatedly collided with the realities of the times, measuring the distance between what the counterculture thought was possible and what the world would actually allow.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025
Gein’s sickness is singular and curable, but ours, as a society, is out of control and hopeless?
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 4 Oct. 2025
The bubble-ists think that the Coreweave people are hopeless dreamers at best and shysters at worst.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hopeless
Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Throughout the 1970s, as much as Nicholson’s rebels or Beatty’s hopeless romantics, Keaton’s optimistic dreamers repeatedly collided with the realities of the times, measuring the distance between what the counterculture thought was possible and what the world would actually allow.
—Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2025
Gein’s sickness is singular and curable, but ours, as a society, is out of control and hopeless?
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 4 Oct. 2025
The bubble-ists think that the Coreweave people are hopeless dreamers at best and shysters at worst.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hopeless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hopeless
Adjective
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The new role comes amid Dane's public campaign to find federal funding for research on the incurable neurological disease.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
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Miners argue increased subjection to the dust has led to an eruption of black lung, an incurable disease associated with inhaling the particles.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Talk of a solution—of two states, of a confederation, of nearly any prospect for a secure and free mode of coexistence—has long been dismissed as either an ingenuous assertion of faith or a cynical pantomime, an empty gesture toward a future no one expects to see.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
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As my colleague Charlie Warzel wrote in March, on X, the White House is now a troll account, borrowing its snide visual language and tone from some of the internet’s most cynical spaces and deploying this style to mock and dehumanize people.—
Kaitlyn Tiffany,
The Atlantic,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Five years on, and somehow, the American economy has not only avoided a contraction but has managed to grow—an outcome many investors thought impossible.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
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But competing with Swift is basically impossible for anyone, which makes this report a little hard to believe.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Siff realized there was a market of willing workers desperate to find jobs without a tool to help them.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
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Stack’s Lilly particularly stands out as a young girl still terrorized by the traumatic loss of her father, but desperate to save her friends from experiencing similar kinds of anguish.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Exhausted and despairing, many Palestinians had their own reasons for refusing to pack up and uproot themselves again.—
WAFAA SHURAFA,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
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People are despairing over the Supreme Court and its deference to the president.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
Adjective
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As Morgan and Sasha chat it up at Noah’s family’s Purim party, a sad-eyed Esther stands off to the side, quietly watching the interaction.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
24 Oct. 2025
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The footage shows Deiseroth’s demeanor teetering between sad and angry.—
David Goodhue
October 24,
Miami Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Bills fans sounded an equally pessimistic note about next month’s game.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
23 Oct. 2025
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The pessimistic version, though?—
Zach Pressnell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Following Dombrowski’s comments and his belief that Harper is unhappy with his current contract situation, Sherman opened the door to a potential offseason trade that sends Harper elsewhere.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
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People who will be sent there include those who let their poor unhappy doggies bark endlessly, those who throw trash on the beach and those who hunt exotic animals for sport.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Oc Register,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hopeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopeless. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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