despairing

adj, noun — 2 senses

despairing

adj

UK /dɪˈspɛə.ɹɪŋ/ · CA, US /dɪˈspɛɹ.ɪŋ/

Etymology From Middle English despeyringe, equivalent to despair + -ing.

1

Feeling, expressing, or caused by despair; hopeless.

He was beginning to forget his burdening, despairing mood of a short while ago.1964, Philip K. Dick, “FOUR”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 39:

Derived terms: despairingly, despairingness, undespairing

despairing

noun

Etymology From Middle English despeyringe, equivalent to despair + -ing.

1

A mood or display of despair.

But what things soever passed in him, when he ceased to see it; what ragings and despairings soever Teufelsdröckh's soul was the scene of, he has the goodness to conceal under a quite opaque cover of Silence.1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Sorrows of Teufelsdröckh”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 103:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.