despairingly

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 despairingly O’Farrell’s words skip lightly on some pages, then pace with anxiety, then finally trudge along despairingly. The Know, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despairingly
Adverb
  • Semi-autobiographical in one sense and despondently poetic in the other, The Stranger launched Camus’ career as a major 20th century author.
    Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Immediately after his defeat, Medvedev violently smashed a racket in frustration and sat dejectedly on his chair for several minutes before leaving the court.
    Manasi Pathak, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • Tom’s final epiphany related to his estranged son isn’t earned, but not because of Ruffalo; his performance cuts a fine line between bitterly self-destructive and warmly spiritual.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
  • San Francisco officials fought bitterly against Waymo and now-defunct Cruise robotaxis from General Motors, after their vehicles repeatedly blocked traffic and emergency vehicles, with Cruise the main perpetrator.
    Ethan Baron, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
Adverb
  • Mia plaintively asks Philip at one particularly vulnerable moment.
    Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Adverb
  • Xavier shakes his head, ruefully.
    Jack Lang, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • Black and Richardson had shared books and talk—and, as Black ruefully admitted, cocaine—in the back room at Elaine’s.
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • In season 3 of The Gilded Age, Gladys unhappily marries the Duke of Buckingham.
    Christopher Rudolph, People.com, 11 Aug. 2025
  • One of the youngest of the MacKenzie brood (and often seen with sister Janet), Jocasta Cameron is sometimes callously honest, perpetually jealous of the attention Ellen gets, and unhappily married to an old man.
    Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
Adverb
  • Noah Baumbach’s painfully incisive portrait of a family divorce among a remarkably prickly family of Brooklyn intellectuals finds so many ways to showcase its characters’ most brittle sides.
    Joe Reid, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025
  • There was a recognition Amorim’s predecessors had assembled a painfully lopsided squad, while the club had lacked a football structure since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in May 2013.
    Dan Cancian, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Despairingly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despairingly. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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