desperately

[des-per-it-lee, -prit-]

adverb

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of desperately¹

desperate ( def. ) + -ly

Example Sentences

Unreported is the touchier issue of the number of Americans who have been desperately trying to get a second passport, especially since the last election.

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With the Dodgers’ bullpen in shambles, Sasaki has emerged as a dominant force in October—not as a starter, but as an unexpected closer for a squad that desperately needed one.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

More important, the reform would increase labor participation in an economy that desperately needs it.

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“We’re not celebrating going to the Coliseum, there’s no pictures and selfies because we’re at the nice Coliseum,” said Moore rather desperately.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Under the terms of the deal, aid trucks should also be allowed unrestricted into the Strip to bring desperately needed aid to Gaza's population - many of whom have been repeatedly displaced during the two-year war.

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Related Words

• badly 
• dangerously www.thesaurus.com
• fiercely 
• greatly 
• perilously 
• seriously