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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.

One who despairs.

Hopeless. [Obs.] Spenser.

Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless. -- De*spair"ing*ly, adv. -- De*spair"ing*ness, n.

To render sharp or keen. [R.] "To acuminate even despair." Cowper.

prehension, perhaps less than terror. He looks behind him with affright, and forward with despair. Goldsmith.

ed or roused to active interest or exertion by pleasure, pain, or passion. "The apathy of despair." Macaulay. A certain apathy or sluggishness in his nature which led him . . . to leave events to take their own course. Prescott. According to the Stoics, apathy meant the extinction of the passions by the ascendency of r…

d to face an antagonist or a difficulty, when escape has become impossible. Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay. Dryden. The most terrible evils are just kept at bay by incessant efforts. I. Taylor

"This day's black fate." "Black villainy." "Arise, black vengeance." "Black day." "Black despair." Shak.

Having the spirits depressed or crushed by grief or despair. She left her husband almost broken-hearted. Macaulay.

Pertaining to, or in the style of, Lord Byron. With despair and Byronic misanthropy. Thackeray

ing; the act of delivering or committing to another person, place, or state. [Obs.] So is despair a certain consignation to eternal ruin. Jer. Taylor.

nmixed; intense; heavy; heartfelt; as, deep distress; deep melancholy; deep horror. "Deep despair." Milton. "Deep silence." Milton. "Deep sleep." Gen. ii. 21. "Deeper darkness." Hoole. "Their deep poverty." 2 Cor. viii. 2. An attitude of deep respect. Motley.

or misfortune; mental depression; melancholy. What besides, Of sorrow, and dejection, and despair, Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring. Milton.

, adv. Hopelessly; despairingly; in the manner of one ruined; as, deperditely wicked. [Archaic]

Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [Obs.] I am desperate of obtaining her. Shak.

The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope. This desperation of success chills all our industry. Hammond.

lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view. I should despair, or at least despond. Scott's Letters. Others depress their own minds, [and] despond at the first difficulty. Locke. We wish that . . . desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that foundations of…

Agitation from violent emotions; perturbation of mind; despair. The distraction of the children, who saw both their parents together, would have melted the hardest heart. Tatler.

e end or conclusion; last; terminating; ultimate; as, the final day of a school term. Yet despair not of his final pardon. Milton.