Meaning & use
without hope
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
having no feeling of hope; feeling that nothing good will happen
Grammar: Used after a verb like 'be', 'feel', or 'leave someone': She felt without hope. It is not used before a noun.
Patterns
- be without hope
- feel without hope
- leave someone without hope
After the third rejection letter, he felt completely without hope.
The villagers were without hope after the flood destroyed their homes.
She stared at the empty road, without hope of rescue.
Common combinations
- be without hope
- Without a job or a place to live, he was without hope.
- feel without hope
- She felt without hope for the first time in years.
- leave someone without hope
- The doctor's words left them without hope.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hopeless
- More common and can also mean 'very bad' or 'useless'; 'without hope' is more formal and only describes the feeling.
- despairing
- Stronger and more literary; it suggests deep, active despair rather than just a lack of hope.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: without hope or hopeless?
without hope vs hopeless
'Hopeless' can mean 'without hope', but it also means 'very bad' (a hopeless mess) or 'unable to do something well' (hopeless at math). 'Without hope' only means the feeling.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'without hope' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses 'without hope' to mean having no hope of something. Option 1 is wrong because 'without hope' does not mean 'bad at' something; 'hopeless at' would fit. Option 2 is wrong because 'without hope' describes people or feelings, not weather. Option 3 is grammatically wrong because 'without hope' cannot be placed before a verb like that.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “without hope”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.