despond /(?)/

de·spond

despond

v. i.

imp. & p. p. Desponded; p. pr. & vb. n. Desponding

  1. To give up the will, courage, or spirit; to be thoroughly disheartened; to lose all courage; to become dispirited or depressed; to take an unhopeful view.
    I should despair, or at least despond.
    — Scott's Letters.
    Others depress their own minds, [and] despond at the first difficulty.
    We wish that . . . desponding patriotism may turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the foundations of our national power still stand strong.
    — D. Webster.
Syn. -- Despond, Dispair.

Despair implies a total loss of hope, which despond does not, at least in every case; yet despondency is often more lasting than despair, or than desperation, which impels to violent action.

Despond

n.
  1. Despondency. [Obs.]
    The slough of despond.