desperate

[ des-per-it, -prit ]

/ ˈdɛs pər ɪt, -prɪt /

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adjective

reckless or dangerous because of despair, hopelessness, or urgency: a desperate killer.

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.

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.

noun

Obsolete. a desperado.

OTHER WORDS FOR desperate

1 rash, frantic.

3 grave.

8 forlorn, desolate.

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OPPOSITES FOR desperate

1 careful.

3, 8 hopeful.

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Origin of desperate

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin dēspērātus, past participle of dēspērāre “to be without hope, despair”; see despair, -ate¹

synonym study for desperate

3. See hopeless.

OTHER WORDS FROM desperate

des·per·ate·ly, adverbdes·per·ate·ness, nounqua·si-des·per·ate, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH desperate

desperate , disparate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use desperate in a sentence

They sent out desperate fundraising pleas for its legal defense fund.
It began on a gold escalator. It may have ended at Four Seasons Total Landscaping.|Dan Zak, Karen Heller|November 8, 2020|Washington Post
These actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries.
U.S. government concludes Iran was behind threatening emails sent to Democrats|Ellen Nakashima, Amy Gardner, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Craig Timberg|October 22, 2020|Washington Post
What we have seen in the last year or two was … a desperate flight to consumer revenue for those who are not in it already.
‘Retention has been one of our best stories of the year’: Bob Cohn on steering The Economist through crisis|Lara O'Reilly|October 20, 2020|Digiday
For weeks, the California Democrat has been drawing a tough line with a president increasingly desperate to produce a pre-Election Day achievement as he lags in polls.
Pelosi walks tightrope in stimulus talks amid pressures of election, economy|Rachael Bade, Erica Werner|October 15, 2020|Washington Post

If the South Korean claims are true, however, Lee would join a select group who have attempted the desperate journey across one of the world’s most dangerous borders.
The North Koreans Who Escape Back Home|Fiona Zublin|October 14, 2020|Ozy
And in the desperateness of it, in the fierce height to which his battling temper had arisen, he had killed his man.
The Man in the Twilight|Ridgwell Cullum
The inroads of hunger were already experienced; and this knowledge of the desperateness of my calamity urged me to frenzy.
Edgar Huntley|Charles Brockden Brown
From General Lee's letters, official and private, one gets a clear view of the desperateness of his position.
Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee|(His Son) Captain Robert E. Lee
A lady visitor was groaning politically to Madame de Girardin over the desperateness of the situation.
The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II|Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Then she paused with them in her hand, and the desperateness of the venture nearly overwhelmed her.
The Moving Finger|Mary Gaunt

British Dictionary definitions for desperate

desperate

/ (ˈdɛspərɪt, -prɪt) /

adjective

careless of danger, as from despair; utterly reckless

(of an act) reckless; risky

used or undertaken in desperation or as a last resortdesperate measures

critical; very gravein desperate need

(often postpositive and foll by for) in distress and having a great need or desire

moved by or showing despair or hopelessness; despairing

Derived forms of desperate

desperately, adverbdesperateness, noun

Word Origin for desperate

C15: from Latin dēspērāre to have no hope; see despair

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

desperate

OTHER WORDS FOR desperate

OPPOSITES FOR desperate

Origin of desperate

synonym study for desperate

OTHER WORDS FROM desperate

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH desperate

Words related to desperate

How to use desperate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for desperate

Derived forms of desperate

Word Origin for desperate