despair

/dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/

//dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"despair" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“despair” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,319. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,319
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.

Corpus desk

Index EN-despair · despair · English

despair · rank #9,319 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,319
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH deliberate

Nearest frequency peer: deliberate (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “despair”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “despair” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

despair vs Desai
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for despair
PropertyValue
Headworddespair
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/
Letters7
Frequency rank#9,319
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “despair”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).despairlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “deliberate” (#9,318), “discovering” (#9,320), “definitions” (#9,317). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “despair” is #9,319. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around despair (IPA /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/), averb. Corpus frequency is #9,319 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for despair, with forms such as "ddespair", "depsair", and "desapir". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Desai", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 ortrī… The correct English form is despair, spelled D-E-S-P-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    To 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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how despair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I would not despair the greatest design that could be attempted.
  2. I sometimes despair of getting anything quite simple and honest done in this world by the help of men.

Etymology

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”).

This word in other languages

desesperarse(Español)désespérer(Français)verzweifeln(Deutsch)desesperar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddespair
  • depsair
  • desapir
  • despairr
  • despari
  • despiar
  • desppair
  • desspair
  • dsepair
  • edspair

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of despair - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ddespair1depsair2desapir2despairr1despari2despiar2desppair1desspair1
Edit distance from "despair"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "despair"?
"despair" is spelled D-E-S-P-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/.
What does "despair" mean?
As a verb, "despair" means: To give up as beyond hope or expectation; to despair of.
What words are commonly confused with "despair"?
"despair" is commonly confused with "Desai". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "despair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "despair" is /dɪˈspɛə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "despair"?
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 Eng... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "despair", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

confess#9,306fellows#9,333candles#9,293calcium#9,291

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

hormone10 variantsBelgian10 variantsaddicted10 variantsmetallic10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list