desperate
Americanadjective
-
reckless or dangerous because of despair, hopelessness, or urgency.
a desperate killer.
- Antonyms:
- careful
-
having an urgent need, desire, etc..
desperate for attention;
desperate to find a job.
-
leaving little or no hope; very serious or dangerous.
a desperate illness.
- Synonyms:
- grave
- Antonyms:
- hopeful
-
extremely bad; intolerable or shocking.
clothes in desperate taste.
-
extreme or excessive.
-
making a final, ultimate effort; giving all.
a desperate attempt to save a life.
-
actuated by a feeling of hopelessness.
-
having no hope; giving in to despair.
- Antonyms:
- hopeful
noun
adjective
-
careless of danger, as from despair; utterly reckless
-
(of an act) reckless; risky
-
used or undertaken in desperation or as a last resort
desperate measures
-
critical; very grave
in desperate need
-
in distress and having a great need or desire
-
moved by or showing despair or hopelessness; despairing
Related Words
See hopeless.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of desperate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin dēspērātus, past participle of dēspērāre “to be without hope, despair”; see despair, -ate 1
Explanation
Desperate means "having lost all hope." If you are desperate for food, it means you are starving, possibly about to die. If you are in a desperate situation, it means things are really, really bad. Desperate, desparate, or despirate? The word desperate is misspelled often enough that it's the despair of English teachers. Both desperate and despair come from the same Latin verb as despair. Don't mix it up with disparate, a totally different word that means "distinctive, different, various."
Vocabulary lists containing desperate
List 8
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"Sorry, Wrong Number," Vocabulary from the play
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The huge rise comes with investors desperate for exposure to stocks which will benefit from artificial-intelligence spending.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
West Ham will be absolutely desperate to get the win, but I am going for a draw and, if anyone does win it, it will be Newcastle.
From BBC • May 14, 2026
As a result of this decision, thousands of desperate patients have lost a chance at being among the one-third who have failed other courses of treatment and have already benefited from the drug in trials.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026
The last time Moore attended the fest was for the Oscar-winning body horror “The Substance,” where she stars as an aging actress desperate to reclaim her youth.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026
“Pirates! Oh, no!” she cried, for truly, she could think of nothing worse, plus it interrupted the part about the cannibal book, which she was desperate to hear.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
