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disconsolation

disconsolation

9.3
A feeling of deep sadness that nothing can comfort
  • noun
  • /ˌdɪs.kənˈsoʊ.leɪ.ʃən/
translation icon : desconsuelo
  • Despite her friends' efforts to cheer her up, a lingering disconsolation remained after the sad news.

Examples

  • His constant feeling of disconsolation after losing his job made it hard for him to enjoy his favorite activities.

  • The alienation the secretive Mendez feels from his family is palpable throughout, adding to Argo's general sense of disconsolation.

    Blog text (15)
  • Disconsolation drifts out of the Upper East Side, in some river of chance, drifts neglected like waste, until it lands somewhere else.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • After the breakup, she fell into a deep state of disconsolation and found it difficult to smile again.

Synonyms

despair
vsdisconsolation
210 3.5

A complete loss of hope

is about inability to be comforted without total loss of hope
despondency
vsdisconsolation
4 8.3

A strong feeling of sadness and loss of hope after something bad

focuses on inability to be comforted rather than low spirits
desolation
vsdisconsolation
3 7.6

A feeling of deep sadness and emptiness after being left alone

is about inability to be comforted not specifically caused by abandonment
despondence
vsdisconsolation
1 8.8

A feeling of deep sadness and no hope

focuses on inability to be comforted rather than discouraged tone
slough of despond
vsdisconsolation
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A deep sadness that lasts a long time and is hard to escape

is the state of being unable to be comforted without the escape imagery
inconsolability
vsdisconsolation
9.3

Unable to be comforted after a sad loss

expresses the same state with no difference in meaning
disconsolateness
vsdisconsolation
9.9

A deep sadness that nothing can comfort

is less extreme in hopelessness

Antonyms

102 3.8

Something that makes you feel better after loss or disappointment

How Sad

disconsolation
9.3
sorrow
243 2.1
sadness
229 1.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

disconsolation = disconsole (semi-transparent) = dis + console + ation

Once the rare verb 'disconsole' is known, adding '-ation' straightforwardly forms a noun for the resulting state or process.

Etymology

Disconsolation comes from the parts dis- and consolation, where dis- means 'not' and consolation, the same root as console, means 'comfort'. So disconsolation is the feeling of not being able to be comforted, when nothing seems to make you feel better.