intr.v., -spaired, -spair·ing, -spairs.
- To lose all hope: despaired of reaching shore safely.
- To be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat.
- Complete loss of hope.
- One despaired of or causing despair: unmotivated students that are the despair of their teachers.
[Middle English despeiren, from Old French desperer, from Latin dēspērāre : dē-, de- + spērāre, to hope. N., from Middle English despeir, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French desperer, to despair.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
