From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdespondentde‧spon‧dent /dɪˈspɒndənt $ dɪˈspɑːn-/ adjective SAD/UNHAPPYextremely unhappy and without hope Gill had been out of work for a year and was getting very despondent.despondent about He was becoming increasingly despondent about the way things were going. —despondency noun [uncountable] —despondently adverb
Examples from the Corpus
despondent• And for that reason it was senseless to be despondent.• But none of the Cleveland players appeared despondent.• Despite all its problems the Club had a strong will to succeed and was rarely despondent.• From a distance of two weeks, the initial reaction to defeat also seems unnecessarily despondent.• William exits fairly despondent and heads for the door.• We are more despondent and needy than ever!• Tom Ripley had never really been despondent, though he had often looked it.Origin despondent (1600-1700) Latin despondere “to give up, lose hope”, from spondere “to promise” 