different between hopeless vs incurable

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

English

Etymology

From Old French incurable, from Late Latin incurabilis

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??n?kj????bl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??n?kj???bl/

Adjective

incurable (not comparable)

1. Of an illness, condition, etc, that is unable to be cured; healless.
   • 1854, James Stephen, On Desultory and Systematic Reading

     They were labouring under a profound, and, as it might have seemed, an almost incurable ignorance.

Synonyms

• uncurable

Antonyms

• curable

Derived terms

• incurable romantic, … optimist, … dreamer

Related terms

• incurability
• terminal

Translations

Noun

incurable (plural incurables)

1. One who cannot be cured.

Anagrams

• binuclear

Catalan

Etymology

From Late Latin incurabilis, attested from 1460.

Adjective

incurable (masculine and feminine plural incurables)

1. incurable

   Synonym: inguarible

   Antonyms: curable, guarible

Related terms

• incurabilitat

References

Further reading

• “incurable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “incurable” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “incurable” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Late Latin incurabilis.

Adjective

incurable (plural incurables)

1. incurable

   Synonym: inguérissable

   Antonyms: curable, guérissable

Further reading

• “incurable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Adjective

incurable m or f (plural incurables)

1. incurable

Spanish

Etymology

From Late Latin inc?r?bilis.

Adjective

incurable (plural incurables)

1. incurable

   Antonym: curable

Related terms

• incurabilidad

Further reading

• “incurable” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.