Adjacent Words

Despond definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DESPOND, v.i.[L. To promise; literally, to throw to or forward.]
1. To be cast down; to be depressed or dejected in mind; to fail in spirits.
I should despair, or at least despond.
2. To lose all courage, spirit or resolution; to sink by loss of hope.
Others depress their own mind, and despond at the first difficulty.
Note. The distinction between despair and despond is well marked in the foregoing passage from Scott. But although despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case, yet despondency is followed by the abandonment of effort, or cessation of action, and despair sometimes impelss to violent action, even to rage.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: lose confidence or hope; become dejected; "The supporters of the Presidential candidate desponded when they learned the early results of the election"

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb Etymology: Latin despond?re, from de- + spond?re to promise solemnly — more at spouse Date: 1655 to become despondent II. noun Date: 1678 despondency

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. lose heart or hope; be dejected. --n. archaic despondency. Etymology: L despondere give up, abandon (as DE-, spondere promise)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Despond De*spond", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Desponded; p. pr. & vb. n. Desponding.] [L. despond[=e]re, desponsum, to promise away, promise in marriage, give up, to lose (courage); de- + spond[=e]re to promise solemnly. See Sponsor.] To give up, the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to 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 the foundations of our national power still stand strong. --D. Webster. Syn: Despond, Dispair. Usage: Despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case; yet despondency is often more lasting than despair, or than desperation, which impels to violent action.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Despond De*spond" n. Despondency. [Obs.] The slough of despond. --Bunyan.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Despair, be cast down, be disheartened, lose hope, lose courage, be despondent, give up, abandon hope. See despair.

Moby Thesaurus

abandon hope, become suicidal, brood, despair, despair of, droop, falter, give up, give up hope, give way, hit rock bottom, languish, lose heart, lose hope, plumb the depths, reach the depths, sag, sink, sink into despair, touch bottom, yield to despair