Hope - Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Despair is the opposite of hope. [1] Hope is the 'feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best' or the act of 'look[ing] forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence' or 'feel[ing] that something desired may happen'.[2] Other definitions are 'to cherish a desire with anticipation'; 'to desire with expectation of obtainment'; or 'to expect with confidence'.[3] In the English language the word can be used as either a noun or a verb, although hope as a concept has a similar meaning in either use.