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
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
-
In April, the actor told PEOPLE exclusively that he'd been diagnosed with the incurable disease.—
Hannah Sacks,
People.com,
16 June 2025
-
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reinstated nearly 200 workers who screen coal miners for black lung, an incurable progressive disease caused by long-term exposure to coal dust, following a federal judge’s order Tuesday.—
Nathaniel Weixel,
The Hill,
14 May 2025
Adjective
-
Too often, leaders are stuck between moral maximalism and cynical cost-cutting.—
HEC Paris Insights,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
-
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
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
-
The leaders of both are desperate to find a ‘solution’ to the issue, in order to ward off the electoral challenges from right-wing parties such as Reform U.K. and France’s National Rally.—
Frey Lindsay,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
-
Both the Rig Hands and LA Riot are 1-1 this season, and will be desperate for a win to get over the .500 mark in this Big3 basketball season.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 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
-
Too much alcohol and your dreamy dessert turns into a sad, semi-frozen slush.—
Emily Price,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
-
All three movies are packed with dinosaurs—dinosaurs running, dinosaurs being sad and winsome, dinosaurs showing ruthless disregard for human life.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
30 June 2025
Adjective
-
Tennesseans are generally, and understandably, pessimistic.—
Andrea Williams,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
-
Veteran workers, in contrast, are more pessimistic about the tools and the impact of AI on their jobs, according to surveys.—
John Kell,
Fortune,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
This gives the creditor an additional target to pursue and make very unhappy which can indirectly put pressure on the debtor to pay the judgment.—
Jay Adkisson,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
-
Circulation increased and the publication won two Pulitzer Prizes, but the owner, conservative Harry Guggenheim, was unhappy with the paper’s shift to the left, and he and Moyers were divided over the Vietnam War and the 1968 presidential election.—
Carmel Dagan,
Variety,
26 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hopeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopeless. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share