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绝望 meaning in English

juéwàng

to despair; to give up all hope

HSK 5Traditional 絕望20 strokes

Meaning of 绝望

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

juéwàng
  1. to despair
  2. to give up all hope
  3. desperate
  4. desperation

How to use 绝望

绝望 works as a verb (to despair) and as an adjective or noun (desperate, despair). It often appears with 感到 (gǎndào) or 对...绝望. Example: 他对生活感到绝望。 (Tā duì shēnghuó gǎndào juéwàng.) He feels hopeless about life.

绝 (jué) means to cut off, and 望 (wàng) means to look toward or hope. When your hope is cut off completely, you feel 绝望 (juéwàng), despair.

Common mistake: Learners often use 绝望 when they mean 失望 (shīwàng). 失望 is everyday disappointment, like a bad movie, while 绝望 is total, serious loss of hope and sounds much heavier.

绝望 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

充chōng满mǎn希xī望wàng比bǐ绝jué望wàng好hǎo。
To hope is better than to despair.
汤tāng姆mǔ绝jué望wàng了le。
Tom gave up all hope.
丈zhàng夫fū去qù世shì时shí她tā十shí分fēn绝jué望wàng。
She was in despair when her husband died.
这zhè些xiē家jiā庭tíng主zhǔ妇fù过guò得de很hěn绝jué望wàng。
These housewives are desperate.
萨sà米mǐ大dà部bù分fèn时shí间jiān都dōu在zài绝jué望wàng地dì哭kū泣qì。
Sami spent most days crying in despair.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

绝 jué · to cut short · 9 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9

望 wàng · full moon · 11 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11

Related words

Words that share a character with 绝望.

希望xīwàngto hope; a hope; a wish
绝对juéduìabsolute; unconditional
愿望yuànwàngdesire; wish
失望shīwàngdisappointed; to lose hope
看望kànwàngto pay a visit to; to see (sb)
拒绝jùjuéto refuse; to decline; to reject
渴望kěwàngto thirst for; to long for
期望qīwàngto have expectations; to earnestly hope
盼望pànwàngto hope for; to look forward to
绝大多数jué dàduōshùthe vast majority
望见wàngjiànto espy; to spot
指望zhǐwàngto count on; to hope for; prospect; hope

Questions about 绝望

What does 绝望 mean?

绝望 (juéwàng) means "to despair; to give up all hope".

How do you write 绝望?

绝望 is made of 2 characters: 绝 (9 strokes), 望 (11 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.

Is 绝望 an HSK word?

Yes. 绝望 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 绝望 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 绝望 is written 絕望.

What is the opposite of 绝望?

The most common opposite is 希望 (xīwàng), hope. You can also say 充满希望 (chōngmǎn xīwàng), full of hope.

Can I say 很绝望?

Yes. 很绝望 (hěn juéwàng) is natural and means very desperate or hopeless. You will also see 绝望的眼神 (juéwàng de yǎnshén), a desperate look.

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