Despairing
/dɪˈspɛərɪŋ/noun
Experiencing or showing a loss of hope.
Did you know?Despair comes from the same Latin root as 'desperate,' originally tied to the idea of being without hope or expectation, not to any occult force.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
dēspērāre
“to lose hope, give up expecting”
Late Latin
Latin
dēspērātiō
“loss of hope, hopelessness”
Old French
Old French
desesperer
“to despair”
Middle English
English
despairen
“to lose hope, be hopeless”
Modern English
English
despairing
“feeling or showing hopelessness”