What does despair mean?
Despair is the complete loss of hope — a profound emotional state in which a person no longer believes that a situation can improve. It can describe both a private inner experience ('she fell into despair') and, idiomatically, a source of exasperation ('his behaviour is the despair of his parents'). As a verb, to despair means to abandon hope, typically followed by 'of', as in 'they despaired of ever finding it'. The word carries considerable emotional weight: stronger than disappointment or sadness, it suggests something close to surrender. Despair features prominently in literature, philosophy, and discussions of mental health, where persistent despair may signal serious distress. Its power lies partly in its history — it derives from the Latin 'sperare', meaning to hope, making it linguistically a negation of hope itself. Related words such as desperate and desperate's kin share this hopeful root, reminding us that despair only exists because hope does.
The complete loss or absence of hope.
"She was driven to despair by the endless delays."
Commonly used with prepositions: 'in despair', 'into despair'. Also used idiomatically to mean a cause of frustration: 'the despair of his teachers'.
A cause or source of hopelessness or exasperation.
"His untidiness is the despair of his flatmates."
To lose all hope or confidence.
"Do not despair — help will come."
Typically takes the preposition 'of': 'to despair of success'.
Rarely pluralised; when used, it refers to multiple instances or episodes of despair, often in a literary register.
"The novel traces her despairs across decades of hardship."
The word 'despair' once meant something you could literally fall out of — it comes from Latin 'sperare', to hope, so to despair is etymologically to be stripped of every last scrap of hope.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of despair
Despair comes from the Old French 'desperer', from Latin 'desperare', formed from 'de-' (indicating reversal or removal) plus 'sperare' (to hope), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *speh₁- relating to prosperity and success. It entered Middle English around the 13th century, initially also carrying a strong theological sense of the sin of abandoning hope in God's mercy. Cognates include 'prosper' and 'desperate', which share the same Latin root 'sperare'.
Related word forms
How despair is actually used
'Despair' carries a strong, weighty connotation — more intense than sadness or disappointment — and appears frequently in literary and formal registers as well as everyday speech. In psychology and mental-health contexts it often signals severe emotional distress. The verb form commonly takes 'of': 'to despair of something'.
Easily confused with despair
Despair is the loss of hope itself, while desperation is the urgent state that may drive frantic action; one can feel desperation without abandoning hope.
Depression is a clinical condition or prolonged low mood, whereas despair is an emotional state of hopelessness about a specific situation or life generally.