hopeless

hopeless
hope|less
S3 [ˈhəupləs US ˈhoup-] adj
1.) if something that you try to do is hopeless, there is no possibility of it being successful
▪ We tried to stop the flames from spreading, but we knew it was hopeless.
▪ Getting your work published often seems a hopeless task .
▪ I kept on struggling forward, even though I knew it was hopeless .
2.) a hopeless situation is so bad that there is no chance of success or improvement
▪ The situation is not as hopeless as it might seem.
▪ the millions who live in hopeless poverty
3.) especially BrE informal very bad
▪ I'm a hopeless cook.
hopeless at (doing) sth
▪ My brother was always pretty hopeless at ball games.
hopeless with
▪ I'm hopeless with machinery.
▪ I've got a hopeless memory.
▪ The public transport system was absolutely hopeless.
4.) feeling no hope
▪ I began to feel lonely and hopeless.
5.) used, often humorously, to say that someone's bad behaviour cannot be changed
▪ Oh, James, you really are a hopeless case (=it seems impossible to change your behaviour) !
hopeless romantic/materialist/drunk etc
▪ She was a hopeless romantic, always convinced that one day she would meet the man of her dreams.
>hopelessness n [U]

Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат
Synonyms:
, , , , , / , , , , , / ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hopeless — Records Aktive Jahre seit 1993 Sitz Los Angeles, Vereinigte Staaten Website http://www.hopelessrecords.com Genre(s) Punkrock …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • hopeless — [hōp′lis] adj. 1. without hope [a hopeless prisoner] 2. allowing no hope; causing despair [a hopeless situation] 3. impossible to solve, cure, deal with, teach, etc. hopelessly adv. hopelessness n. SYN. HOPELESS means having no expectation of, or …   English World dictionary

  • Hopeless — Hope less, a. 1. Destitute of hope; having no expectation of good; despairing. [1913 Webster] I am a woman, friendless, hopeless. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. Giving no ground of hope; promising nothing desirable; desperate; as, a hopeless cause.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • hopeless — index despondent, diabolic, disconsolate, futile, impossible, impracticable, incorrigible, inoperable ( …   Law dictionary

  • hopeless — 1560s, from HOPE (Cf. hope) + LESS (Cf. less). Related: Hopelessly; hopelessness …   Etymology dictionary

  • hopeless — despairing, *despondent, desperate, forlorn Analogous words: dejected, depressed, melancholy, sad (see corresponding nouns at SADNESS): gloomy, glum, morose (see SULLEN): acquiescent (see COMPLIANT) Antonyms: hopeful Contrasted words: optimistic …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • hopeless — [adj] futile, pessimistic bad, beyond recall, cynical, dejected, demoralized, despairing, desperate, despondent, disconsolate, discouraging, downhearted, fatal, forlorn, gone*, goner*, helpless, ill fated, impossible, impracticable, incurable, in …   New thesaurus

  • hopeless — ► ADJECTIVE 1) feeling or causing despair. 2) inadequate; incompetent. DERIVATIVES hopelessly adverb hopelessness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • hopeless — adjective 1 a hopeless situation is so bad that there is no chance of success or improvement: be in a hopeless mess/state/condition: The economy is in a hopeless mess. 2 if something that you try to do is hopeless, there is no possibility of it… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • hopeless — [[t]ho͟ʊpləs[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED If you feel hopeless, you feel very unhappy because there seems to be no possibility of a better situation or success. He had not heard her cry before in this uncontrolled, hopeless way... The economic crisis makes …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”