de·spair (d?-spâr?)intr.v. de·spaired, de·spair·ing, de·spairs 1. To lose all hope: despaired of reaching shore safely.2. To be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat.n.1. Complete loss of hope.2. One despaired of or causing despair: unmotivated students that are the despair of their teachers.[Middle English despeiren, from Old French desperer, from Latin d?sp?r?re : d?-, de- + sp?r?re, to hope; see sp?- in Indo-European roots. N., from Middle English despeir, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French desperer, to despair.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.despair (d??sp??) vb1. (often foll by: of) to lose or give up hope: I despair of his coming. 2. (tr) obsolete to give up hope of; lose hope inn3. (Psychology) total loss of hope4. a person or thing that causes hopelessness or for which there is no hope[C14: from Old French despoir hopelessness, from desperer to despair, from Latin d?sp?r?re, from de- + sp?r?re to hope]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014de?spair (d??sp??r) n. 1. loss of hope; hopelessness. 2. a source of hopelessness: to be the despair of one’s teachers. v.i. 3. to lose, give up, or be without hope: to despair of humanity. v.t. 4. Obs. to give up hope of. [1275?1325;