1
as in desperation
utter loss of hope
the endless drought drove the farmers to despair
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dismay
the state of being discouraged
the other team's temporary lead caused some momentary despair
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to grieve
to lose all hope or confidence
we despaired when we saw how little time we had left to complete our project
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of despair
Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2025
Each of these reliquary sculptures reminds us that art can register loss without nostalgia and sadness without despair.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Sep. 2025
While the first Korean drop vanished instantly, U.S. fans don’t have to despair.
—Lanee Lee, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for despair
Noun
His loving, pragmatic wife, Mi-ri (Son Ye-jin), gamely downsizes their middle-class life to fit their new reality — but her resoluteness only exacerbates his despair.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2025
Each of these reliquary sculptures reminds us that art can register loss without nostalgia and sadness without despair.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
But other costs have added to despair: the relative prices of housing, healthcare, and student debt have risen.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Sep. 2025
While the first Korean drop vanished instantly, U.S. fans don’t have to despair.
—Lanee Lee, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for despair
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despair
Noun
-
Facing fourth-and-4 at its 49-yard line, Grunkemeyer faced an all-out blitz and his desperation pass fell incomplete.—
Scott Dochterman,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Seminoles backup Kevin Sparry, a true freshman, completed a desperation 53-yard pass to Micahi Danzy to the Stanford 9 with two seconds left, and then the Cardinal were called for pass interference in the end zone on the next play, setting FSU up at the 2 for an untimed down.—
Harold Gutmann,
Mercury News,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
While taking part in a video interview with GQ published in March alongside his Mickey 17 director Bong Joon Ho, Pattinson expressed some level of dismay for having to dance for the cameras while acting.—
Becca Longmire,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Ethan Hawke stars as Lorenz Hart of legendary songsmiths Rodgers & Hart as the prolific partnership disintegrates to his great dismay.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The acclaimed actors’ characters are brought together by geography in the eight-episode Netflix series in which Rhys’ Nile — previously suspected of killing his wife — moves in near Danes’ Wiggs, a grieving author.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Oct. 2025
-
The 27-year-old is still grieving the loss of Stone, who died on March 1 at the age of 63 in a car crash in Alabama.—
Essence,
Essence,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
But the sadness at seeing Nuno depart does not equate to an anti-Postecoglou sentiment.—
Paul Taylor,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Any book that centers love, friendship, dependence, entwinement, with humor, grace, sadness, pathos, that has such immense warmth and care at the core, is the best kind of book to me.—
Emily Temple,
Literary Hub,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The gradual combination of these skills helps students avoid most crashes in the long term, leading to less discouragement and frustration.—
Maria Williams,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
-
So feelings of self-doubt, frustration, and discouragement start to kick in.—
Sho Dewan,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
As mentioned, the team was already without QB Cade Klubnik, who suffered an ankle injury in last week’s 41-10 victory over Boston College.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Astronauts traveling to Mars will have to survive for months on a tiny spaceship with minimal food, endure microgravity where their bones and muscles waste away, and suffer from cosmic radiation bombardment.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
18 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The film contrasts the picturesque Alpine scenery of Tyrol with the hopelessness and isolation of the people who live in this landscape involuntarily – rejected asylum seekers placed on top of the Bürglkopf mountain.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
16 Oct. 2025
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Strangers became friends and friends became family in a crowd that has felt anger, despair and hopelessness before finally feeling some happiness.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In Tel Aviv, silent vigils mourn Gaza’s children—absent, yet achingly present in large-scale photographs.—
Beatrice Verhoeven,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Tel Aviv activists hold silent vigils mourning Gaza’s children, confronting public hostility with quiet resilience.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Despair.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despair. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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