Meaning & use
losing hope
Last updated
UK/ˌluːzɪŋ ˈhəʊp/
US/ˌluːzɪŋ ˈhoʊp/
Meaning
phraseidiom
starting to feel that something good will not happen
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase; it can follow 'be' or 'start': She is losing hope. It can also be a noun phrase: Losing hope is easy.
Patterns
- be losing hope
- start losing hope
- losing hope of something
After three days without news, we were losing hope.
Don't start losing hope — the rescue team is still searching.
She was losing hope of ever finding her lost dog.
Word forms
| base form | lose hope |
|---|---|
| third person singular | loses hope |
| past tense | lost hope |
| past participle | lost hope |
Common combinations
- be losing hope
- The survivors were losing hope after a week in the mountains.
- start losing hope
- I started losing hope when the letters stopped coming.
- losing hope of finding something
- They were losing hope of finding the missing keys.
- without losing hope
- She waited for years without losing hope.
Synonyms and how they differ
- give up hope
- This means to stop hoping completely; 'losing hope' suggests you are in the process and may still have some hope.
- despair
- This is stronger and more formal, suggesting total loss of hope.
Opposites
hopinggaining hope
Word family
Commonly confused: losing hope or hopping?
losing hope vs hopping
This means jumping on one foot. 'Losing hope' is about feelings, not movement.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The phrase is 'losing hope' without 'the'. After 'started', we use the -ing form or 'to' + base form, so 'to losing' and 'lose' are wrong.
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