pit of despair
2
9.0
- noun
- Informal
- After losing his job, he found himself trapped in a pit of despair that was hard to escape.
- a dark pit of despair
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Watch on YouTubeAnd you just got flung into that pit of despair and violence, bro.
- And you just got flung into that pit of despair and violence, bro.
Examples
-
That dark pit of despair that opens up inside you—we can fill it.
Fiction book (1995) -
By daybreak, the Parker house would be a festering pit of despair.
-
You can talk about it without throwing me into a deep pit of despair.
Fiction book (2000) -
I was one of those who felt like I descended into a bottomless pit of despair last night.
Blog text (11) -
Sufferers can change from feeling life is a wondrous joy to being stuck in a pit of despair within six hours.
-
I sank into a pit of despair and hopelessness that I can't begin to describe.
-
She explained how a series of setbacks pushed her into a pit of despair that lasted for weeks.
-
Many people experience a pit of despair during tough times, feeling lost and hopeless about the future.
Synonyms
285
2.8
A feeling of great unhappiness and suffering
228
1.0
A feeling of being unhappy
187
3.5
A complete loss of hope
76
3.7
A deep feeling of sadness and loss of interest in life
49
3.2
A feeling of sadness and low spirits
44
8.8
A very bad situation that makes you feel unhappy
14
4.6
A mild feeling of sadness and low energy
6
5.8
Feeling sad and low
6
3.7
A very strong feeling of sadness after a great loss
4
8.3
A strong feeling of sadness and loss of hope after something bad
2
9.9
A life that is full of pain and sadness
1
3.4
A feeling of sadness and little hope felt by people or in a place
1
5.8
A time when someone feels sad and without energy
1
6.5
A deep, quiet feeling or look of sadness
1
9.9
A deep sadness that lasts a long time and is hard to escape
1
6.6
A quiet feeling of sadness and low spirits
1
7.4
A feeling of being sad or low
1
6.3
A deep feeling of sadness about a loss
A very strong feeling that nothing will get better and you have no hope
Extreme misery and suffering that makes life very hard
Antonyms
How Sad
- Informal
2
9.0
28
4.1
76
3.7
228
1.0
1
3.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a state of extreme sadness' is directly derivable from combining 'pit' (a deep hole or depression, here used metaphorically) with 'despair' (hopelessness); the phrase describes a figurative hole characterized by despair. This compositional metaphor is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely infer the overall meaning.
Etymology
Pit of despair creates a simple image: a pit is a deep dark hole and despair means deep sadness. Falling into that pit is like being trapped with no way out, which is why it means 'feeling very sad and without hope'.