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Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective hopeless differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of hopeless are despairing, desperate, and despondent. While all these words mean "having lost all or nearly all hope," hopeless suggests despair and the cessation of effort or resistance and often implies acceptance or resignation.

the situation of the trapped miners is hopeless

When is despairing a more appropriate choice than hopeless?

The meanings of despairing and hopeless largely overlap; however, despairing suggests the slipping away of all hope and often despondency.

despairing appeals for the return of the kidnapped child

In what contexts can desperate take the place of hopeless?

While the synonyms desperate and hopeless are close in meaning, desperate implies despair that prompts reckless action or violence in the face of defeat or frustration.

one last desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle

When can despondent be used instead of hopeless?

While in some cases nearly identical to hopeless, despondent implies a deep dejection arising from a conviction of the uselessness of further effort.

despondent about yet another rejection

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 This memoir-manifesto could be seen as hopeless, and there is certainly no shortage of carnage in its pages. Andrew R. Chow, Time, 6 June 2025 Those who are convinced they’re trapped stay helpless and hopeless. Amy Morin, CNBC, 12 June 2025 In a world where the powerful increasingly act with impunity, taking fictional villains to task makes sense, a form of Hollywood wish fulfillment for those who feel stuck or hopeless. Whitney Friedlander, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2025 Most people’s writing or public speaking is pointless, endless, and hopeless. Eli Amdur, Forbes.com, 13 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
  • The cynical view would be that Trump is looking for a reason to have federal troops join ICE in rounding up undocumented immigrants that Mamdani tries to protect, and to arrest local officials who get in their way.
    Anna Commander, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 July 2025
  • There is a certain business logic to that; from a cynical perspective, if a £10million investment fails to live up to expectations, the financial downside for the buying club is relatively small — and in many cases, he will be sold to somewhere lower down the sport’s food chain.
    Oliver Kay, New York Times, 8 July 2025
Adjective
  • No sign yet of the Qualcomm fixes from last month which triggered a U.S. government update mandate for federal staff, with a deadline that was impossible to hit.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025
  • Nowadays, both men and women are serving faster than ever before, with players regularly reaching service speeds that were once thought to be nearly impossible.
    Ben Church, CNN Money, 8 July 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
  • Separate efforts by the United Nations to distribute limited food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys.
    WAFAA SHURAFA, Arkansas Online, 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
  • Her eyes are big and sad, and her index finger touches the tip of the nightstick hanging from the policeman’s belt.
    Daniel Alarcón, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Adjective
  • 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
  • Tennesseans are generally, and understandably, pessimistic.
    Andrea Williams, The Tennessean, 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

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Cite this Entry

“Hopeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://x0upouf933.proxynodejs.usequeue.com/thesaurus/hopeless. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.

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