drive to despair

drive (one) to despair

To cause one to experience sadness, hopelessness, and/or frustration. I'm not surprised that his wife's death has driven him to despair—grief has that effect on people. Try not to let this rejection drive you to despair.
See also: despair, drive
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

drive someone to despair

Fig. to depress someone; to frustrate someone. Sometimes raising an infant drives me to despair! The recent problems drove her to despair.
See also: despair, drive
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • drive (one) to despair
  • a counsel of despair
  • counsel
  • despair
  • fall into despair
  • sink into despair
  • heavy heart, with a
  • grieve over
  • grieve over (someone or something)
  • cast a shadow over (some place)
References in periodicals archive
It was, in fact, a well-studied, planned and financed strategy to break, humiliate and, if necessary, drive to despair the man who stood as an obstacle to a clean takeover of governance by creating facts on the ground and exhausting all means of manipulating the Constitution.
Assailing the firefighter