hopeless

English

Etymology

hope +‎ -less, compare Swedish hopplös.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhoʊplɪs/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhəʊplɪs/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -oʊplɪs
Hyphenation: hope‧less

Adjective

hopeless (comparative more hopeless, superlative most hopeless)

Without hope; despairing; not expecting anything positive.
- 1613, William Shakespeare; [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:
  I am a woman, friendless, hopeless.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
  Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
- 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 41:
  A gaoler struck him, pushing him back in place in the hopeless, helpless line of prisoners.
Giving no ground of hope; promising nothing desirable; desperate.
a hopeless cause
Without talent, not skilled.
He's a hopeless writer, but can draw very well.
- 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
  " It is a pure waste of time." "Not at all," Malone answered. "It has ventilated an evil. There were reporters in court. Surely some of them have some sense. They will note the injustice." "Not they," said Mailey. "The Press is hopeless. My God, what a responsibility these people take on themselves, and how little they guess the price that each will pay! I know."
(of an adverse condition) Incurable.
She is a hopeless romantic.
He is a hopeless idler.

Synonyms

desperate
unhopeful

Antonyms

hopeful

Collocations

with nouns

hopeless case
hopeless situation
hopeless romantic
hopeless love
hopeless cause
hopeless person
hopeless despair
hopeless life
hopeless undertaking
hopeless alcoholic
hopeless man
hopeless endeavor
hopeless place
hopeless pain
hopeless agony
hopeless project

Derived terms

hopeless romantic

Translations

destitute of hope; having no expectation of good; despairing

Afrikaans: hopeloos
Armenian: անհույս (hy) (anhuys)
Bulgarian: безнадежден (bg) (beznadežden)
Catalan: desesperat
Chinese:
Mandarin: 沒有希望的／没有希望的 (méiyǒu xīwàng de), 絕望的／绝望的 (zh) (juéwàng de)
Czech: beznadějný (cs)
Danish: håbløs
Dutch: hopeloos (nl), uitzichtloos (nl), kansloos (nl)
Esperanto: senespera (eo)
Faroese: vónleysur, hopleysur
Finnish: toivoton (fi)
French: désespéré (fr)
Georgian: უიმედო (uimedo)
German: hoffnungslos (de)
Greek: ανέλπιδος (el) (anélpidos)
Ancient Greek: ἀνέλπιστος (anélpistos)
Hungarian: reménytelen (hu)
Irish: éadóchasach
Italian: disperato (it)
Japanese: 絶望した (ja) (ぜつぼうした, zetsubō shita), 絶望的な (ぜつぼうてきな, zetsubōteki na)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: نا ئومێد‎ (na umêd)
Northern Kurdish: bêhêvî (ku)
Latin: desperatus
Latvian: bezcerīgs
Lithuanian: beviltiškas
Macedonian: безнадежен (beznadežen)
Malay: putus asa
Norwegian:
Bokmål: håpløs (no), håplaus, vonløs, vonlaus
Nynorsk: vonlaus, håplaus
Persian: ناامید‎ (fa) (nâ-omid)
Plautdietsch: hopnungslooss
Polish: beznadziejny (pl)
Portuguese: desesperado (pt), desesperançado
Russian: безнадёжный (ru) (beznadjóžnyj)
Spanish: desesperado (es)
Swedish: hopplös (sv)
Turkish: umutsuz (tr), ümitsiz (tr), nevmit (tr)
Welsh: anobeithiol (cy), diobaith (cy)

desperate — see desperate

without talent — see talentless

not skilled — see nonskilled

incurable — see incurable

References

hopeless in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
hopeless in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
hopeless at OneLook Dictionary Search