Despair
Etymology
From Latin "desperare," “to be without hope,” from "de-" (down from, without) + "sperare" (to hope), from "spes" (hope). Despair is hope’s exact negation, built into the word: to despair is, literally, to be de-hoped. English even briefly had “to desper,” but the noun form is what survived.
noun · /dis-PAIR/
The complete loss of hope, and the sinking heaviness that comes with it.
What it names
Use it for the moment the future goes dark — when you stop believing a good outcome is even possible.
Example
When the second treatment failed too, a quiet despair replaced the fight in him.
Related idea
Against despondency: despondency is a dejected, low mood you can climb out of; despair is more absolute — the conviction that there is nothing to climb toward. Kierkegaard deepened it further, calling despair a “sickness unto death,” the self’s refusal to be itself — a spiritual condition, not just a bad mood.
See also