despond Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb lose confidence or hope; become dejected
    • The supporters of the Presidential candidate desponded when they learned the early results of the election

WordNet

De*spond" intransitive verb
Etymology
L. despondre, desponsum, to promise away, promise in marriage, give up, to lose (courage); de- + spondre to promise solemnly. See Sponsor.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Desponded; present participle & verbal noun Desponding
Definitions
  1. To give up, the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view.
    I should despair, or at least despond. Scott's Letters.
    Others depress their own minds, [and] despond at the first difficulty. Locke.
    We wish that . . . desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that foundations of our national power still stand strong. D. Webster.
    Syn. -- Despond, Dispair. Despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case; yet despondency is often more lasting than despair, or than desperation, which impels to violent action.
De*spond" noun
Definitions
  1. Despondency. Obs.
    The slough of despond. Bunyan.

Webster 1913