With the engine failing and the nearest port days away, the sailors faced a hopeless situation.
发动机失灵，最近的港口还有数日航程，水手们面临绝望的境地。
Which choice best defines “hopeless”?
B — Having no expectation of success or improvement. “hopeless” means having no expectation of success or improvement.
Which word means “having no expectation of success or improvement”?
A — hopeless. “hopeless” means having no expectation of success or improvement.
hopeless — having no expectation of success or improvement. In Chinese: 绝望的.
hopeless is pronounced /ˈhoʊpləs/.
With the engine failing and the nearest port days away, the sailors faced a hopeless situation. (发动机失灵，最近的港口还有数日航程，水手们面临绝望的境地。)
desperate, futile, vain — all close in meaning to hopeless (having no expectation of success or improvement).
hopeful, optimistic — each the opposite of hopeless (having no expectation of success or improvement).
Yes. hopeless is on the SAT Prep Basic list — the everyday academic words the SAT assumes you already have. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.