different between hapless vs hopeless

English

Etymology

From about 1400, from hap (“luck”) +? -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hæpl?s/

Adjective

hapless (comparative more hapless, superlative most hapless)

1. Very unlucky; ill-fated.
   • 1914, John Galsworthy, The Mob, act 1:

     My dear friend, are you to become that hapless kind of outcast, a champion of lost causes?

   • 2008, Harriet Barovick, "Detroit The Lost Season," Time, 31 Dec.:

     The hapless squad, which was outscored 517-268 in 2008, became the first in league history to go 0-16.

2. Devoid of talent or skill.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:hapless.

Derived terms

• haplessly
• haplessness

Translations

Anagrams

• phasels, plashes, shpeals

English

Etymology

hope +? -less, compare Swedish hopplös.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ho?pl?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?h??pl?s/
• Hyphenation: hope?less

Adjective

hopeless (comparative more hopeless, superlative most hopeless)

1. Without hope; despairing; not expecting anything positive.
2. Giving no ground of hope; promising nothing desirable; desperate.

3. Without talent, not skilled.

   He's a hopeless writer, but can draw very well.
4. (of an adverse condition) Incurable.

   She is a hopeless romantic.

   He is a hopeless idler.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "hopeless" is often applied: case, situation, romantic, love, cause, person, despair, life, undertaking, alcoholic, man, endeavor, place, pain, agony, project.

Synonyms

• desperate
• unhopeful

Antonyms

• hopeful

Translations

References

• hopeless in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• hopeless in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• hopeless at OneLook Dictionary Search