The hapless sailor struggled against the fierce storm.She consoled the hapless child who lost his kitten.It was a tale of a hapless quest that ended in disaster.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Hopeless
/ˈhəʊpləs/
Feeling or showing a lack of hope or expectation of a positive outcome
Examples:
The movie left me feeling a bit hopeless about the future.She tried to fix the leak, but it was a hopeless task.Their attempts at making peace seemed rather hopeless.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
Both hapless and hopeless end with less, suggesting a lack of something.
Hapless means unlucky or unfortunate, like someone who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hopeless means without hope, often used to describe situations that seem impossible to remedy.
Remember: Hapless relates to bad luck, while hopeless relates to lost hope.
Think of hap in hapless as happen, emphasizing what happens to a person, and hope in hopeless as losing hope.