FluentPlex

despair

/dɪˈspɛɚ/ verb C1
  1. To cause to despair. (transitive)
  2. To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation. (intransitive)

He/she/it despairs · Past despaired · Past participle despaired · -ing form despairing

+ Save to review

Verb forms

Base form
despair
He/she/it
despairs
Past
despaired
Past participle
despaired
-ing form
despairing

From the library

A despairing cry escaped the pale lips of Mercédès; the old man sank into a chair.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 35 · C1
At last, about ten o’clock, and just as Dantès began to despair, steps were heard in the corridor, a key turned in the lock, the bolts creaked, the massy oaken door flew open, and a flood of light from two torches pervaded the apartment.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 70 · C1
He did not even see the ocean, that terrible barrier against freedom, which the prisoners look upon with utter despair.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 76 · C1
“Didn’t you know water would be the end of me?” asked the Witch, in a wailing, despairing voice.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, p. 89 · B2

Other matches

Learn despair in real texts

With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.

Create free account
Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.