Meanings
comparative more hopelessly · superlative most hopelessly
- In a manner showing no hope.
He made a brave show of following her, but became hopelessly lost after a few minutes.
1913, Parrot & Co, Bobbs-Merrill Company, page 1592 more examples
The whole covey of victims was thus netted; the household ruin was thus full and orbicular; and in that proportion the tendency of men and women, flutter as they might, would be helplessly and hopelessly to sink into the all-conquering hands of the mighty murderer.
1854, Thomas De Quincey, “On Murder, Considered as One of the Fine Arts. Postscript.”, in Miscellanies (De Quincey’s Works; IV), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, page 76Crouch had earlier hopelessly miskicked an excellent volleyed chance from eight yards out after a delightful Pennant cross.
2011 October 15, Owen Phillips, “Stoke 2 - 0 Fulham”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbin a dispirited manner without hope
adverbwithout hope; desperate because there seems no possibility of comfort or success
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-West Germanic*tōhopōn
- Old Englishtōhopa
- Old Englishhopa
- Middle Englishhope
- Englishhope
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishhopeless
- Englishhopelessly
Translations
Esperanto senespere
- senespereTranslations
Polish beznadziejnie
- beznadziejnieTranslations
Spanish desesperadamente
- desesperadamenteTranslations
Turkish ümitsizce, umutsuzca
- ümitsizceTranslations
- umutsuzcaTranslations
Cite this entry
hopelessly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hopelessly
“hopelessly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hopelessly. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hopelessly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hopelessly.
Source: hopelessly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.