despondent
dih-SPON-duntadjMeaning in low spirits from loss of hope
Memory hook de-SPOND-ent: no hope by the POND. Felix has fished the pond all day without a single nibble, and now he slumps on the bank, all hope gone. He is despondent.
After the third rejection letter, Felix was despondent.
In context The team was despondent after losing the final by a single point, and for days afterward no one could bear to talk about the game.
Similar hopeless, dejected, downcast, discouraged
Opposite hopeful, cheerful, optimistic
From Latin despondere, “to give up, to lose heart”: de (away) + spondere (to promise).