English Dictionary |
HOPELESSLY
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Dictionary entry overview: What does hopelessly mean?
• HOPELESSLY (adverb)
The adverb HOPELESSLY has 3 senses:
2. in a dispirited manner without hope
3. without hope; desperate because there seems no possibility of comfort or success
Familiarity information: HOPELESSLY used as an adverb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
In a hopeless manner
Context example:
he is hopelessly romantic
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Pertainym:
hopeless ((informal to emphasize how bad it is) beyond hope of management or reform)
Sense 2
Meaning:
In a dispirited manner without hope
Synonyms:
dispiritedly; hopelessly
Context example:
the first Mozartian opera to be subjected to this curious treatment ran dispiritedly for five performances
Pertainym:
hopeless (without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Without hope; desperate because there seems no possibility of comfort or success
Context example:
'I must die,' he said hopelessly
Antonym:
hopefully (with hope; in a hopeful manner)
Pertainym:
hopeless (without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success)
Context examples
I was ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He loved her so much, so terribly, so hopelessly.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
When I ran to push it open, I found that it was hopelessly fast.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
I had been hopelessly in the wrong before, but this man's menaces were putting me in the right.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My work, which had appeared so vague, so hopelessly diffuse, condensed itself as he proceeded, and assumed a definite form under his shaping hand.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
One Eye approached carefully but hopelessly.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
Dora would look up hopelessly, and reply, “They won't come right. They make my head ache so. And they won't do anything I want!”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Three times the hand essayed to write but fumbled hopelessly.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Lotty, with Teutonic phlegm, was calmly eating bread and currant wine, for the jelly was still in a hopelessly liquid state, while Mrs. Brooke, with her apron over her head, sat sobbing dismally.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
He is hopelessly beat, sir.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
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