despair

despair, desperation, depression, disappointment

这些名词都有“绝望、沮丧”之意。
despair: 普通用词，指因灾难等因素而丧失希望和信心，陷入沮丧，绝望的境地。
desperation: 语气强烈，指因绝望而使人采取无所顾忌的疯狂行动。
depression: 侧重指因遭受重大失利或挫折而产生的低落情绪。
disappointment: 多指愿望或期望的落空。

名词 despair:

1. a state in which everything seems wrong and will turn out badly
   同义词：desperation
2. the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well

动词 despair:

1. abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart

1. He has been in the abyss of despair.
   他已陷入绝望的深渊。
2. A person is most disappointed when he is in despair.
   一个人在绝望时最失望。
3. Trying to keep this garden in order is the despair of my life.
   把这个花园管理好是我力不能及的事。
4. He gave up the attempt in despair.
   他绝望之下放弃了尝试。

de.spair

v.intr.（不及物动词）
de.spaired,de.spair.ing,de.spairs
To lose all hope:
绝望：失去全部希望：
例句：
despaired of reaching shore safely.
失去安全到达岸边的希望

To be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat.
断念：被徒劳无功或失败打倒了
n.（名词）
Complete loss of hope.
绝望：完全失去希望
One despaired of or causing despair:
使绝望者：使绝望的人或事：
例句：
unmotivated students that are the despair of their teachers.
没有学习动力的学生被老师认为是绝望的人

来源：
Middle English despeiren
中古英语 despeiren
from Old French desperer
源自 古法语 desperer
from Latin dôspôr3re
源自 拉丁语 dôspôr3re
dô- [de-]
dô- [前缀，表.否定，相反.]
spôr3re [to hope] * see spô-
spôr3re [希望] *参见 spô-
N., from Middle English despeir
名词，源自 中古英语 despeir
from Anglo-Norman
源自 英法语
from Old French desperer [to despair]
源自 古法语 desperer [绝望]

<参考词汇><同义词>despair,hopelessness,desperation,despondency,discouragementThese nouns denote loss of hope.
这些名词都意指丧失希望。
Despair and hopelessness stress the utter absence of hope and often imply a sense of powerlessness or resignation:
Despair 和 hopelessness 强调完全没有希望，并经常暗示一种.无能的、听任摆布.的意思：
例句：
When the bank repossessed the house, their depression turned to despair.
当银行收回房子时，他们的沮丧变成了绝望。

例句：
A spirit of hopelessness pervaded the refugee camp.
绝望的情绪笼罩着难民营。

Desperation is despair that drives a person to take risky, often reckless action:
Desperation 是一种驱使人冒险，经常是暴力行动的绝望：
例句：
.The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. (Henry David Thoreau).
.男人们在沉静的绝望中生活. （亨利·戴维·梭罗）。

Despondency emphasizes depression of spirit resulting from cessation of hope and a belief that continued efforts will fail:
Despondency 强调由希望的中止以及一种继续努力，也会徒劳无功的信念导致的精神沮丧：
例句：
Her despondency arises from her inability to find employment.
她之所以意志消沉是因为她无法找到工作。

Discouragement denotes loss of confidence or courage in the face of obstacles but is the weakest of these terms:
Discouragement 是指在面对阻碍时丧失信心或勇气，但在这些词中，它.失望.的程度是最轻的：
例句：
The farmer experienced moments of discouragement over the failure of his crops.
农夫经受了片刻的对农作物歉收的痛苦