Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DESPONDENT

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connect today's word to others: Let's consider the Latin word spondere, which means "to pledge or to promise." You can see why spondere gave us English words like sponsor (someone who makes a pledge or promise) and spouse (someone you promise yourself to)--as well as respond, correspond, and this weird one: despond. Etymologically speaking, if you respond, you "pledge back" to someone. If you correspond, you "pledge back together." And if you despond, you let your pledges fall away--that is, you give up. But that's not the whole story that explains our word despondent, because today, despondent doesn't just mean "giving up:" it means "downhearted, sick at heart, depressed, and hopeless." Here's the missing piece of that story. In Latin, the phrase animam despondere means to give up your soul, to let your spirit be cast down. That entire phrase, animam despondere, influenced the meaning of despondent. By the way, could you explain why the animam in animam despondere looks a bit like our words equanimity, longanimity, magnanimity, and unanimity? make your point with... "DESPONDENT" Despondent people and things are sad, hopeless, and depressed. Pronunciation: dis PON dunt Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a despondent glance" or "a despondent person." 2. After a linking verb, as in "His glance was despondent" or "She was despondent.") Other common forms: despondency, despondently How to use it: "Despondent" is an intense and formal word. It's a good choice when you need to talk about total, utter, rock-bottom hopelessness. Talk about despondent people; despondent moods, attitudes, and outlooks; despondent looks, glances, and expressions; despondent movements and gestures; despondent comments and answers; despondent songs and stories; even despondent jokes and humor. You can be despondent about something, despondent in your speech and actions, despondent for a period of time, etc. examples: After her husband's death, she rarely sat around the house, despondent. Instead she busied herself in the garden. In children's literature, like in the Harry Potter series, even the saddest, darkest stories never sink into despondency. There's always some glimmer of hope. study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "despondent" means when you can explain it without saying "without hope" or "totally dejected." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "When (something only slightly disappointing happened), I had to laugh at (someone's) despondent (eyes, gaze, or slump)." Example: "When Taylor noticed the hair stuck to her lollipop, I had to laugh at her despondent slump." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Quirky Keepers."  We’ll play with a bunch of bizarre, oddly specific words—words that deserve a place in our vocabulary, even though they're too wacky and rare to explore in full issues of Make Your Point. (I found most of these words in Charles Harrington Elster’s outrageously entertaining book, There’s A Word For It: A Grandiloquent Guide to Life.) Our goal as we play is to squirrel the words away in our memories. So, in each issue, we’ll check out a word; in the following issue, I’ll give you a new example of that word, and you see if you can recall it. We’ll start with short words and work our way up to the six-, seven-, and eight-syllable doozies. See if you can recall the word from the previous issue: You're finishing up a game with your friends, and you're about to make an amazing, high-scoring play, one that seals your victory. You feel so good. What noun describes that feeling? (It's five syllables.)  See the answer by scrolling all the way down. Today, let’s check out the word "mendaciloquent," which means "telling lies" or "lying in a vivid, articulate, eloquent way." Remember, in the next issue I’ll give you an example of someone mendaciloquent, without mentioning the word—and you’ll try to recall it. That'll help you keep it in your memory. review today's word: 1. The opposite of DESPONDENT is A. CORRESPONDENT. B. DEMOCRATIC. C. CHEERED. 2. _____ was their best weapon against despondency. A. Exercise, especially out in the fresh air,  B. Their habit of documenting every incident C. The campaign that made voting seem cool Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answer to the game question: It's nikhedonia, the excitement and happiness you feel because you know you're going to win. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. A