How to say "despair" in Japanese

• 絶望ぜつぼうJLPT N1approx.Common
  suru verb, intransitive verb, no-adjectiveThe core word for despair itself: the state of having lost all hope. Choose this when 'despair' means utter hopelessness, with no expectation of anything better.
  私はしばしば絶望感ぜつぼうかんに襲おそわれた。↗

  I was often seized by despair.
• やけCommon
  noun, na-adjectiveDespair that curdles into self-abandonment: giving up and acting recklessly because nothing seems to matter anymore. Usually written in kana alone.
• 失望しつぼうJLPT N3approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, intransitive verbAt heart this is disappointment: hopes or expectations that have come to nothing. It can be glossed 'despair', but for the strong, hopeless sense it is seldom the word you want.
  私はその結果けっかに失望しつぼうした。↗

  I was disappointed at the results.
• 失意しついCommon
  no-adjectiveCovers despondency and dejection — being brokenhearted or crushed in spirit after a setback or loss. It points to low spirits rather than the intense hopelessness of 絶望.
  ビルは失意しついのうちに死しんだ。↗

  Bill died a disappointed man.
• 自暴自棄じぼうじきCommon
  na-adjective, no-adjectiveA four-character idiom for despair that boils over into desperate, self-abandoning behavior — a state of having given up on oneself. It describes the conduct as much as the feeling.
  司教しきょうは、自暴自棄じぼうじきになった移民いみんたちを哀あわれんで助たすけを与あたえた。↗

  The bishop felt pity for the immigrants who were abandoned, and gave them help.

Choose 絶望 for utter hopelessness, 失意 for dejection after a loss, 失望 for disappointment rather than true despair, and 「やけ」 or 自暴自棄 for despair that erupts into reckless self-abandonment.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 絶望ぜつぼうdespair
• やけdesperation
• 失望しつぼうdisappointment
• 失意しついdisappointment
• 自暴自棄じぼうじきdesperation
• 悲観ひかんpessimism
• 自暴じぼうdespair
• やけくそdesperation
• ヤケ腹ヤケばらdesperation
• 闇やみbewilderment
• 汚泥おでいhopeless situation