Adjacent Words

Despondent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DESPONDENT, a. Losing courage at the loss of hope; sinking into dejection; depressed and inactive in despair.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: without or almost without hope; "despondent about his failure"; "too heartsick to fight back" [syn: despondent, heartsick]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Latin despondent-, despondens, present participle of despond?re Date: circa 1699 feeling or showing extreme discouragement, dejection, or depression <despondent about his health> • despondently adverb Synonyms: despondent, despairing, desperate, hopeless mean having lost all or nearly all hope. despondent implies a deep dejection arising from a conviction of the uselessness of further effort <despondent about yet another rejection>. despairing suggests the slipping away of all hope and often despondency <despairing appeals for the return of the kidnapped child>. desperate implies despair that prompts reckless action or violence in the face of defeat or frustration <one last desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle>. hopeless suggests despair and the cessation of effort or resistance and often implies acceptance or resignation <the situation of the trapped miners is hopeless>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. in low spirits, dejected. Derivatives: despondence n. despondency n. despondently adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Despondent De*spond"ent, a. [L. despondens, -entis, p. pr. of despond?re.] Marked by despondence; given to despondence; low-spirited; as, a despondent manner; a despondent prisoner. -- De*spond"ent*ly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you are despondent, you are very unhappy because you have been experiencing difficulties that you think you will not be able to overcome. I feel despondent when my work is rejected. ADJ • despondently Despondently, I went back and told Bill the news. ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Dispirited, disheartened, discouraged, dejected, depressed, low-spirited, in low spirits. See melancholy, a.

Moby Thesaurus

affording no hope, apathetic, bleak, blue, bowed-down, cast down, cheerless, comfortless, dashed, dejected, depressed, despairing, desperate, desponding, disconsolate, discouraged, disheartened, dismal, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted, drooping, droopy, feeling low, forlorn, grieving, grim, heartless, hopeless, hypochondriac, hypochondriacal, in despair, in low spirits, in the depths, in the doldrums, in the dumps, languishing, low, low-spirited, melancholy, miserable, morose, mourning, pessimistic, pining, sad, sorrowful, spiritless, subdued, suicidal, unhappy, unhopeful, weary of life, without hope, woebegone, world-weary