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
- quasi-desperately adverb
Etymology
Origin of desperately
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.
Dharmendra Prasad, a 37-year-old taxi driver living far below the lake in the town of Rangpo Forest, awoke to a commotion, as townspeople desperately scrambled to get to higher ground.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
“When people step into the Joy Who Lived, they know they’re going to be cared for, and that includes being allowed to laugh; we desperately need to laugh,” Gibson says.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
“I had desperately wanted a place outside the city because I had been working for years at this point inside of a studio with no windows,” she said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
“Ready or Not 2” and “They Will Kill You” supply their characters with almost inhuman agency and dexterity because they reflect a moment when the viewer desperately wishes they could have those things, too.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
In front next to the driver slumped a desperately ill-looking man whose head lolled strangely on the seat back.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
