Phrase guide

death of despair

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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noun

Meaning 1

Death resulting from a disease of despair.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

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Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Popularized by the economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton in the context of their analysis of US capitalism.

Word forms

Inflections and variants

deaths of despair — plural

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: none provided

Semantic map

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