as in desperation
utter loss of hope
the fans' hopelessness was dispelled as their team mounted a comeback
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 hopelessness
At New York Fashion Week, beauty acted as a moment of reprise from the hopelessness many are feeling in the current state of the world.
—
Essence, 19 Sep. 2025
The film certainly steers clear of Emmerichian overdrive, but it is suffused with hopelessness — on both an intimate and an epic scale.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
As history tells us, when the most vicious wars inevitably come to an end, destruction, chaos and hopelessness are left in their wake.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025
Today that sense of hopelessness has been replaced by a sense of determination and a good deal more hope.
—Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 6 Sep. 2025
Bigelow’s explosively entertaining real-time thriller, told from multiple perspectives at various levels of government from situation room deputies to POTUS (Idris Elba) himself, does not mince on hopelessness.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2025
In the 2024 National College Health Assessment Report, 30% of the 30,000 students surveyed said anxiety negatively affected their academic performance, with 20% at risk for symptoms that suggest severe psychological distress, such as feelings of sadness, nervousness and hopelessness.
—Chanam Lee, The Conversation, 2 Sep. 2025
The persistent violent crime across the city, particularly in our most vulnerable neighborhoods, has left many residents living in fear and hopelessness.
—Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025
Forty percent of high school students reported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
—Kara Alaimo, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
Essence, 19 Sep. 2025
The film certainly steers clear of Emmerichian overdrive, but it is suffused with hopelessness — on both an intimate and an epic scale.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
As history tells us, when the most vicious wars inevitably come to an end, destruction, chaos and hopelessness are left in their wake.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025
Today that sense of hopelessness has been replaced by a sense of determination and a good deal more hope.
—Gabrielle Emanuel, NPR, 6 Sep. 2025
Bigelow’s explosively entertaining real-time thriller, told from multiple perspectives at various levels of government from situation room deputies to POTUS (Idris Elba) himself, does not mince on hopelessness.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 2 Sep. 2025
In the 2024 National College Health Assessment Report, 30% of the 30,000 students surveyed said anxiety negatively affected their academic performance, with 20% at risk for symptoms that suggest severe psychological distress, such as feelings of sadness, nervousness and hopelessness.
—Chanam Lee, The Conversation, 2 Sep. 2025
The persistent violent crime across the city, particularly in our most vulnerable neighborhoods, has left many residents living in fear and hopelessness.
—Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2025
Forty percent of high school students reported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
—Kara Alaimo, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hopelessness
Noun
-
Trailing by two scores in the fourth quarter, Dart shifted into desperation mode.—
Dan Duggan,
New York Times,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Okane is desperate at the prospect of losing both her true love and her one defender, and her desperation gives rise to extravagant and harrowing drama.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Most powerful of all is Ritchie’s (Bill Hader / Finn Wolfhard) coming-out story, which leaves the viewer in despair.—
Samantha Allen,
Them.,
7 Oct. 2025
-
But people also described the despair of not being able to reach family or colleagues.—
Zahra Nader,
Time,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Jane Goodall’s passing is a moment of profound sadness.—
Jessica Coacci,
Fortune,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Multiplying forms of addiction, proliferating mental illness—in the midst of the Iraq War, with the Cold War paradigm dead alongside the USSR, and the Regan 1980s in the rearview, the United States of the 00s was marked by a pervasive sadness captured in Wallace’s prose.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hopelessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopelessness. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share