verb

verzweifeln

despair

Definition & meaning

verzweifeln is a German verb meaning to despair, to lose hope, or to become desperate.

It can be used in two main ways:

To lose hope because of a difficult situation
- Sie verzweifelte an ihrer Situation.
  “She despaired over her situation.”
To struggle intensely with something
- Er verzweifelt an der schwierigen Aufgabe.
  “He is at his wits’ end over the difficult task.”

The construction an etwas verzweifeln means “to despair over something” or “to be extremely frustrated by something.” The object after an is in the dative case.

Grammar & Word origin

Part of speech: verb
Infinitive: verzweifeln
Present tense: ich verzweifle
Simple past: ich verzweifelte
Past participle: verzweifelt
Auxiliary verb: sein
- Sie ist verzweifelt. — “She has despaired / She is desperate.”

The word is related to Zweifel , meaning “doubt.” The prefix ver- changes the meaning and contributes the idea of becoming overwhelmed by doubt or losing confidence and hope.

The verb is normally used without a reflexive pronoun, unlike sich verzweifeln, which is not standard in this meaning.

Synonyms & antonyms

Synonyms

die Hoffnung verlieren — “to lose hope”; a direct and neutral expression.
verzweifelt sein — “to be desperate”; describes a state rather than the process of losing hope.
verzagen — “to lose courage” or “to become disheartened”; somewhat more literary.
verzweifelt kämpfen — “to fight desperately”; emphasizes extreme effort rather than simply giving up.
sich die Haare raufen — literally “to tear one’s hair out”; an idiomatic, informal expression for being extremely frustrated.

Antonyms

hoffen — “to hope”; the clearest opposite of losing hope.
zuversichtlich sein — “to be confident” or “optimistic”; emphasizes positive expectations.
Vertrauen haben — “to have confidence” or “trust”; focuses on confidence in a person or outcome.
sich beruhigen — “to calm down”; an opposite in situations where despair involves emotional agitation.

Common phrases & collocations

an einer Aufgabe verzweifeln — to despair over a task
an sich selbst verzweifeln — to despair over oneself or lose confidence in oneself
an der Situation verzweifeln — to despair over the situation
fast verzweifeln — to almost despair
nicht verzweifeln — “don’t despair” or “don’t give up hope”
verzweifelt nach etwas suchen — to search desperately for something