adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Somebody who is unlikely to achieve success or victory.

Adjective

1. 1
   Not hopeful.

   "As a young man, his was a severe and unhopeful mind, and the tendency to despond was increased by circumstances."

Adjective

1. 1
   showing utter resignation or hopelessness wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

abjectapatheticbleakcheerlessdesperatedespondent

Example

More examples

"As a young man, his was a severe and unhopeful mind, and the tendency to despond was increased by circumstances."

Etymology

From Middle English unhopful, unhopfulle, equivalent to un- + hopeful.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.