Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of despondency

40 similar words

Another word for despondency is despair. Other synonyms of despondency are ill-being, depression, desperation, hopelessness and misery.

Synonyms and similar words for despondency

nounThe loss of hope or confidence; despair or dejection.

  • despairLoss of hope; utter hopelessness; complete despondency.
  • desperationA state of despair, or utter hopelessness; abandonment of hope.
  • hopelessnessThe state of having no hope, being unhopeful.
  • unhopeAbsence or lack of hope; hopelessness; despair.
  • despond archaicDespondency.
  • wanhope UK, archaicLack of hope; hopelessness; despair.

nounA feeling of depression or disheartenment.

  • melancholyGreat sadness or depression, especially of a thoughtful or introspective nature.
  • sorrowUnhappiness, woe.
  • bluenessMelancholy.
  • tristesse literarySadness.
  • mirthlessLacking mirth; devoid of joy; sad.
  • bluesA feeling of sadness or depression.
  • crestfallennessThe quality of being crestfallen.
  • dejectionA state of melancholy or depression; low spirits, the blues.
  • depressionA state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future...
  • distress
  • dolefulnessThe characteristic of being doleful; sadness.
  • downheartednessThe characteristic of being downhearted; sadness.
  • forlornnessThe state or characteristic of being forlorn; sadness; loneliness.
  • griefEmotional pain, generally arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or...
  • ill-beingThe state of being ill, unhealthy, or unhappy; misery; miserableness.
  • infelicity
  • melancholiaDeep sadness or gloom; melancholy.
  • miseryGreat unhappiness; extreme pain of body or mind; wretchedness; distress; woe.
  • mourn literarySorrow, grief.
  • sadness
  • sorrowfulnessThe quality or state of sorrow; sadness.
  • tristfulnessSadness; sorrow; melancholy.
  • undelightThe condition or feeling of lacking delight; unhappiness or displeasure.
  • unhappinessThe feeling of not being happy.
  • woeGreat sadness or distress; a misfortune causing such sadness.
  • woefareDiscontentment; sorrow; unhappiness.
  • wretchednessAn unhappy state of mental or physical suffering.
  • drearihead obsoleteSadness; dreariness.
  • heartsore rareHeartache, misery, grief.
  • mishappiness obsoleteUnhappiness; wretchedness; misery.
  • prosternation obsoleteDejection; depression.
  • regret obsolete
  • rue archaic, dialectalSorrow; repentance; regret.
  • ruth obsoleteDistress, misery, sorrow.

Meaning of despondency

  1. noun The loss of hope or confidence; despair or dejection.
  2. noun A feeling of depression or disheartenment.

Full definition of despondency

despondency in other languages

Questions about synonyms of despondency

What is another word for despondency?
Despondency has 40 synonyms on Word.ws, such as despair, ill-being, depression, desperation, hopelessness, misery, sorrow and grief.
What does despondency mean?
Despondency means the loss of hope or confidence; despair or dejection.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: despondency (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of despondency.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/despondency. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.