desperately
Americanadverb
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in a reckless or dangerous way because of hopelessness or urgency.
In the movie, he’s the object of an intense police manhunt and scrambles desperately around Belfast trying to escape.
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in a way that shows urgent need or desire.
He is highly motivated to put his all into everything he does, trying desperately to prove himself.
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to a very serious or dangerous degree that leaves little hope.
People without medical insurance may often suffer without care until they are desperately ill.
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extremely or excessively.
My weekend will be desperately dull, as I've been on vacation all week and have to catch up with work.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of desperately
Explanation
When you do something desperately you do it with extreme urgency. If faced with a life-and-death situation, you might fight desperately, using any means possible to overcome the obstacles and survive. The undercurrent of the adverb desperately is one of despair, which makes sense when you consider that it comes from the Latin desperatus, meaning "given up or despaired of." You can get a good sense of the word from its context in journalist Sheilah Graham’s statement, "You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an inner exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world."
Vocabulary lists containing desperately
A Long Walk to Water
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We Were Liars
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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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 French government desperately needs a return to strong growth if it is to contain its rapidly rising debts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Clutching a photograph of his missing son, Rajesh Ram is pinning his hopes on DNA testing -- like thousands of others desperately seeking relatives swept away by Nepal's catastrophic Himalayan floods.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Maintaining the rage-filled pandemonium was most essential in supporting the stakes of the core story — a terrified, fish-out-of-water father who loses his son and desperately needs to find him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
"By evaluating tailored, non-surgical pain management, this trial could revolutionise care - providing desperately needed support, improving daily lives, and offering long-term relief when standard treatments haven't worked."
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
She threw herself backward, both arms desperately reaching for him, hanging from the broom with just her knees.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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.
