hope springs eternal
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: hope springs eternal in the human breast
Meaning · English
People never lose hope, no matter how unlikely something is
Literally: hope revives perpetually
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “hope springs eternal” mean?
People never lose hope, no matter how unlikely something is Literally: hope revives perpetually
Is “hope springs eternal” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.