All 32 Uses of
despair
in
Little Women
- Jo gave a despairing groan, and Meg laughed outright, while Beth let her bread burn as she watched the fun with interest.†
Chpt 1.1 (definition 2)
- Act fourth displayed the despairing Roderigo on the point of stabbing himself because he has been told that Zara has deserted him.
Chpt 1.2 (definition 1) *despairing = without hope
- "My hair, oh, my hair!" wailed Meg, looking with despair at the uneven frizzle on her forehead.
Chpt 1.3 (definition 2)despair = a feeling of hopelessness or distress
- With a despairing glance at her set, she obeyed.†
Chpt 1.7 (definition 2)
- What shall I do?" cried poor Jo, in despair.†
Chpt 1.8 (definition 2)
- For in that sad yet happy hour, she had learned not only the bitterness of remorse and despair, but the sweetness of self-denial and self-control, and led by her mother's hand, she had drawn nearer to the Friend who always welcomes every child with a love stronger than that of any father, tenderer than that of any mother.
Chpt 1.8 (definition 2)despair = hopelessness
- A strange sense of helplessness fell upon the girls as the gray bonnet vanished round the corner, and despair seized them when a few minutes later Miss Crocker appeared, and said she'd come to dinner.
Chpt 1.11 (definition 2)despair = a feeling of hopelessness
- Go, brave heart, and save me from despair.'
Chpt 1.12 (definition 2) *
- Then he tried to push through, but it grew thicker and thicker, and he was in despair.†
Chpt 1.12 (definition 2)
- Amy protested that she would not go, and Meg left her in despair to ask Hannah what should be done.†
Chpt 1.17 (definition 2)
- Meg leaned against her mother, looking the image of despair, and Jo tramped about the room, calling Laurie names.†
Chpt 1.21 (definition 2)
- And when Meg told him to behave himself and go away, he wrung imaginary tears out of his handkerchief, and staggered round the corner as if in utter despair.†
Chpt 1.23 (definition 2)
- "I can't get any lobsters, so you will have to do without salad today," said Mr. March, coming in half an hour later, with an expression of placid despair.†
Chpt 2.26 (definition 2)
- If this expressive article of dress was drawn low upon the forehead, it was a sign that hard work was going on, in exciting moments it was pushed rakishly askew, and when despair seized the author it was plucked wholly off, and cast upon the floor.†
Chpt 2.27 (definition 2)
- Her story was as full of desperation and despair as her limited acquaintance with those uncomfortable emotions enabled her to make it, and having located it in Lisbon, she wound up with an earthquake, as a striking and appropriate denouement.†
Chpt 2.27 (definition 2)
- In the kitchen reigned confusion and despair.†
Chpt 2.28 (definition 2)
- A week of remorse nearly made Meg sick, and the discovery that John had countermanded the order for his new greatcoat reduced her to a state of despair which was pathetic to behold.†
Chpt 2.28 (definition 2)
- Yes, Amy was in despair that day, for all the good beasts were gone, and of three left, one was lame, one blind, and the other so balky that you had to put dirt in his mouth before he would start.†
Chpt 2.29 (definition 2)
- At last, in my despair, I saw a little door in the roof, and on poking it open, a red eye appeared, and a beery voice said….†
Chpt 2.31 (definition 2)
- When Laurie first went to college, he fell in love about once a month, but these small flames were as brief as ardent, did no damage, and much amused Jo, who took great interest in the alternations of hope, despair, and resignation, which were confided to her in their weekly conferences.
Chpt 2.32 (definition 2)despair = hopelessness
- Both seemed to try his patience sorely, for more than once I heard him say emphatically, "No, no, it is not so, you haf not attend to what I say," and once there was a loud rap, as if he struck the table with his book, followed by the despairing exclamation, "Prut!†
Chpt 2.33 (definition 2)
- The Professor was very patient with me, but it must have been torment to him, and now and then he'd look at me with such an expression of mild despair that it was a toss-up with me whether to laugh or cry.†
Chpt 2.33 (definition 2)
- "I know you will, it's your way, and I shall have to stand by and see it," and the despairing lover cast his hat upon the ground with a gesture that would have seemed comical, if his face had not been so tragic.
Chpt 2.35 (definition 2)despairing = without hope
- Rome took all the vanity out of me, for after seeing the wonders there, I felt too insignificant to live and gave up all my foolish hopes in despair.†
Chpt 2.39 (definition 2)
- Blurred and blotted, faulty and feeble as the lines were, they brought a look of inexpressible comfort to Beth's face, for her one regret had been that she had done so little, and this seemed to assure her that her life had not been useless, that her death would not bring the despair she feared.†
Chpt 2.40 (definition 2)
- The garcon was in despair that the whole family had gone to take a promenade on the lake, but no, the blonde mademoiselle might be in the chateau garden.†
Chpt 2.41 (definition 2)
- Poor Jo, these were dark days to her, for something like despair came over her when she thought of spending all her life in that quiet house, devoted to humdrum cares, a few small pleasures, and the duty that never seemed to grow any easier.†
Chpt 2.42 (definition 2)
- Then, sitting in Beth's little chair close beside him, Jo told her troubles, the resentful sorrow for her loss, the fruitless efforts that discouraged her, the want of faith that made life look so dark, and all the sad bewilderment which we call despair.†
Chpt 2.42 (definition 2)
- If they haven't, it's a pleasure to comfort the poor souls, and keep them from despair when they find it out."†
Chpt 2.44 (definition 2)
- It's nothing to me, of course, but I should think he would have come and bid us goodbye like a gentleman," she said to herself, with a despairing look at the gate, as she put on her things for the customary walk one dull afternoon.†
Chpt 2.46 (definition 2)
- When he offered her his arm, she took it with a look that filled him with delight, but when he asked if she missed him, she gave such a chilly, formal reply that despair fell upon him.†
Chpt 2.46 (definition 2)
- Then on hearing his destination, she said, "So far away!" in a tone of despair that lifted him on to a pinnacle of hope, but the next minute she tumbled him down again by observing, like one entirely absorbed in the matter….†
Chpt 2.46 (definition 2)
Definitions:
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(1) (despair as in: do not despair) lose hope or feel distress
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(2) (despair as in: she felt despair) hopelessness; or distress (such as extreme worry or sadness from feeling powerless to change a bad situation)