hope‧less S3 / həʊpləs $ hoʊp- / 形容词

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 同义词 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 名词 [不可数名词]