Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DE-SPAIR', n. [Fr. desespoir. See the Verb.]

1. Hopelessness; a hopeless state; a destitution of hope or expectation. We are perplexed, but not in despair. – 2 Cor. iv. All safety in despair of safety placed. Denham.
2. That which causes despair; that of which there is no hope. The mere despair of surgery, he cures. – Shak.
3. Loss of hope in the mercy of God. Sprat.