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PlainSpell

despair

des·pair/dɪˈspɛɚ/verb, noun

despair is spelled D-E-S-P-A-I-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables (des·pair). It appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, despair means “To cause to despair” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in despair?

Letters7: D-E-S-P-A-I-R
Syllables2: des·pair
In writing6.6 times per million words; the 9,313th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is despair?

Despair appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce despair?

  • UK /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/
  • US /dɪˈspɛɚ/
  • Australia /dɪˈspeː(ɹ)/

Despair has 2 syllables, split des·pair in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-despair.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with despair

Sounds like: dispair (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with despair?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as despair from its last stressed vowel (/ɛəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of despair

  • despairs present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • despairing participle, present
  • despaired participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does despair mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.

  2. 2

    To cause to despair.

  3. 3

    To be hopeless; to have no hope; to give up all hope or expectation.

noun

  1. 1

    Loss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.

    He turned around in despair, aware that he was not going to survive.

  2. 2

    That which causes despair.

  3. 3

    That which is despaired of.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Despair in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdésespérer (to despair of), désespoir (loss of hope)
Germanverzweifeln (to despair of), Verzweiflung, Hoffnungslosigkeit (loss of hope), zur Verzweiflung bringen (to cause to despair), die Hoffnung aufgeben (to be hopeless)
Portuguesedesesperar-se (to despair of), desespero (loss of hope), desesperar (to cause to despair)
Spanishdesespero (loss of hope), desesperanzar (to cause to despair), desesperanzarse, desesperarse (to be hopeless)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does despair come from?

From Middle English dispeir, from Anglo-Norman despeir and Old French desperer (from Latin dēspērō, dēspērāre), or desesperer, from des- (“dis-”) + esperer (“hope”). See also desperate. Displaced native Old English ormōdnes (“despair”) and Old English ortrīewan (“to despair”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after despair