hopeless

Word family

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++hope·less /ˈhəʊpləs $ ˈhoʊp-/ S3 adjective 1 IMPOSSIBLEif something that you try to do is hopeless, there is no possibility of it being successful 没有成功可能的，无望的 We tried to stop the flames from spreading, but we knew it was hopeless. 我们试图阻止火势蔓延，但我们知道这是不可能的。 Getting your work published often seems a hopeless task. 想让自己的作品出版似乎总是徒劳的。 I kept on struggling forward, even though I knew it was hopeless. 虽然知道无望，我还是奋力挣扎向前。2 BADa hopeless situation is so bad that there is no chance of success or improvement 没有希望（好转）的 The situation is not as hopeless as it might seem. 情况并不像看上去那么毫无希望。 the millions who live in hopeless poverty 无数生活在贫困深渊中的人们3 especially British English informalBAD AT very bad 糟透的，不行的，无能的 SYN terrible I’m a hopeless cook. 我是个糟糕的厨师。hopeless at (doing) something My brother was always pretty hopeless at ball games. 我弟弟玩球类游戏向来不行。hopeless with I’m hopeless with machinery. 我对机械一窍不通。 I’ve got a hopeless memory. 我记性很差。 The public transport system was absolutely hopeless. 公共交通系统实在太糟了。4 HOPEfeeling no hope （感到）绝望的 I began to feel lonely and hopeless. 我开始感到寂寞绝望。5 used, often humorously, to say that someone’s bad behaviour cannot be changed 〔人〕无药可救〔常为幽默用法〕 Oh, James, you really are a hopeless case (=it seems impossible to change your behaviour)! 哎，詹姆斯，你真是无药可救！hopeless romantic/materialist/drunk etc She was a hopeless romantic, always convinced that one day she would meet the man of her dreams. 她是个彻头彻尾的浪漫主义者，总是深信有一天会遇到梦中情人。 —hopelessness noun [uncountable]

Examples from the Corpus

hopeless• ""Please let me go to the party'' Ali begged her mother, but she knew it was hopeless.• The lawyers must have known their lawsuit was hopeless.• It is difficult to trace the exact moment at which he decided that the military situation was hopeless.• The firemen tried to stop the flames from spreading, but it was hopeless.• Doug was hopeless at waiting tables.• The first telephoned his employer saying that it was hopeless, because no one wore shoes!• "I do not believe that working to block the movement of cocaine into the US is a hopeless cause, " McCaffrey told the panel.• Many of us ignore government, assuming that we are too busy to waste our time on such a hopeless cause.• I had this hopeless feeling as I approached the hospital.• Although Helga's condition appeared hopeless, her husband refused to give up.• What had she thought, that their purpose led to another hopeless middle-class trap.• I pore over the hopeless, resigned faces, the emaciated bodies, the stick-like limbs.• Why hadn't she realized how hopeless she had become, how she had forgotten everything during those months of pregnancy?• A hopeless slave like the best of them.• Police now face the hopeless task of trying to find the bombers.• Remember, it's just when things look hopeless that you sometimes get a lucky break.• It's hopeless to try to persuade him while he's in this mood. Let's talk to him tomorrow.hopeless task• A few have become internationally known, but it often seems a hopeless task.• Then he turned and began the hopeless task of chasing his shoe as it flew back and to above his head.• Nevertheless, he set about the seemingly hopeless task of making a bankrupt Command a going concern.• It was a hopeless task to identify David among so many people.• It was a hopeless task, we were slowly sinking in the mire.hopeless at (doing) something• I was no good at rugby and hopeless at cricket.• Such horses are hopeless at dressage, because they always decide what we should do before we ask them.• Leonard should be hopeless at fighting, with no fancy tricks, but courageous all the same.• I've always been hopeless at riddles.• He made sure he was hopeless at wrapping bread and giving change.hopeless case• Doctors can now help people who were once considered hopeless cases.• If Lee didn't know if his Dad was his Dad or not, he must be a hopeless case.

hope·less adjectiveChineseSyllable

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hopeless
hope‧less S3 /ˈhəʊpləs $ ˈhoʊp-/

adjective

Word Family: noun: hope, hopefulness ≠ hopelessness, hopeful; verb: hope; adverb: hopefully ≠ hopelessly; adjective: hopeful ≠ hopeless

1. if something that you try to do is hopeless, there is no possibility of it being successful:

We tried to stop the flames from spreading, but we knew it was hopeless.

Getting your work published often seems a hopeless task.

I kept on struggling forward, even though I knew it was hopeless.
2. a hopeless situation is so bad that there is no chance of success or improvement:

The situation is not as hopeless as it might seem.

the millions who live in hopeless poverty
3. especially British English informal very bad
SYN terrible:

I’m a hopeless cook.
hopeless at (doing) something

My brother was always pretty hopeless at ball games.
hopeless with

I’m hopeless with machinery.

I’ve got a hopeless memory.

The public transport system was absolutely hopeless.
4. feeling no hope:

I began to feel lonely and hopeless.
5. used, often humorously, to say that someone’s bad behaviour cannot be changed:

Oh, James, you really are a hopeless case (=it seems impossible to change your behaviour)!
hopeless romantic/materialist/drunk etc

She was a hopeless romantic, always convinced that one day she would meet the man of her dreams.
—hopelessness noun [uncountable]

hope·less

BrE