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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Despair \De*spair"\, noun [Cf. OF. despoir, fr. desperer.]
1. Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.
We in dark dreams are tossing to and fro, Pine with regret, or sicken with despair. --Keble.
Before he [Bunyan] was ten, his sports were interrupted by fits of remorse and despair. --Macaulay.
2. That which is despaired of. ''The mere despair of surgery he cures.'' --Shak.
Syn: Desperation; despondency; hopelessness.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Despair \De*spair"\, verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Despaired}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Despairing}.] [OE. despeiren, dispeiren, OF. desperer, fr. L. desperare; de- + sperare to hope; akin to spes hope, and perh. to spatium space, E. space, speed; cf. OF. espeir hope, F. espoir. Cf. {Prosper}, {Desperate}.] To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation; -- often with of.
We despaired even of life. --2 Cor. i. 8.
Never despair of God's blessings here. --Wake.
Syn: See {Despond}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Despair \De*spair"\, verb (used with an object)
1. To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of. [Obs.]
I would not despair the greatest design that could be attempted. --Milton.
2. To cause to despair. [Obs.] --Sir W. Williams.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
despair
noun
1: a state in which everything seems wrong and will turn out badly; "they were rescued from despair at the last minute" [syn: {desperation}]
2: the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well [ant: {hope}]
verb: abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart; "Don't despair--help is on the way!" [ant: {hope}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
98 Moby Thesaurus words for "despair": Schmerz, Slough of Despond, abandon, abandon hope, acedia, aching heart, agony, agony of mind, anguish, apathy, bale, become suicidal, bitterness, blank despondency, bleeding heart, broken heart, cave of Trophonius, cave of despair, crushing, death wish, dejectedness, dejection, depression, depth of misery, desolation, despair of, desperateness, desperation, despond, despondency, despondentness, disconsolateness, discouragement, disheartenment, dispiritedness, distress, down trip, downcastness, downer, downheartedness, droop, drooping spirits, drop, extremity, falter, forlornness, give up, give up hope, give way, gloom, gloominess, grief, heartache, heartlessness, heavy heart, hit rock bottom, hopelessness, infelicity, languish, lose heart, lose hope, low spirits, lowness, lowness of spirit, malaise, melancholia, melancholy, miserableness, misery, no exit, no way, no way out, oppression, pessimism, plumb the depths, prostration, quit, reach the depths, relinquish, renounce, resign, resignation, sadness, self-destructive urge, sink, sink into despair, sinking heart, sloth, spiritlessness, suicidal despair, surrender, taedium vitae, touch bottom, weariness of life, woe, wretchedness, yield, yield to despair
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