hope against hope


Hope or wish for with little reason or justification, as in I'm hoping against hope that someone will return my wallet. This expression, based on the biblical “Who against hope believed in hope” (Romans 4:18), was first recorded in 1813.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use hope against hope in a sentence

  • Nevertheless, our “would-be mechanics hope against hope;” and to such we would, in conclusion, tender a word of advice.

    Gunnery in 1858 | William Greener
  • She could not even hope against hope; she knew that Danglar was in deadly earnest.

    The White Moll | Frank L. Packard
  • They would hope against hope, waiting for the man who would never return.