as in desperation
utter loss of hope
the fans' hopelessness was dispelled as their team mounted a comeback
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Recent Examples of hopelessness
However, amid the current turmoil in all three branches of our government, the show echoes a tone of hopelessness.
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Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025
In a world fraught with real-life villains, political upheaval and a collective sense of hopelessness, fantasy steps in to inspire people to carry on, and that rings especially true for LGBTQ+ teens.
—Brittany Johnson, PEOPLE, 2 Nov. 2025
Despite this potentially campy subtext, however, the film’s existential hopelessness leaves a bleak impression.
—Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
These could include feelings of overwhelming sadness (despondence), a sense that life will never get better (hopelessness) or actual thoughts of killing themselves.
—Dr. Theresa T. Nguyen, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Like regular depression, SAD can cause negative feelings like hopelessness, worthlessness, irritability, and guilt; fatigue or reduced energy; a loss of interest in hobbies and activities; and even physical aches and pains (including headaches, cramps, and digestive problems).
—Maggie O'Neill, SELF, 20 Oct. 2025
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
And in a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 40% of American teens reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2023, up from 30% in 2013.
—Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 8 Oct. 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hopelessness
Noun
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In desperation, Ben calls their older sister Hannah (Alexandra Daddario), despite scant contact since she got thrown out of the family home years prior.—
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Two goals down with 30 minutes left, Charlotte pushed forward with desperation but lacked precision.—
Noun
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Monday’s loss to the Celtics highlighted the despair in the state of the current Bulls frontcourt.—
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But Wharton, unlike the characters in her novels, never seemed to give in to despair.—
Noun
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Emotions were on full display with many expressing sadness and frustration, not only over Wednesday's federal raid, but raids happening around the Twin Cities over the last 40 days.—
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The initial answer to that question is a no, according to some evangelical pastors and commentators who reacted with shock and sadness to Yancey’s confession.—
Cite this Entry
“Hopelessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hopelessness. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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