desperate
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.
Obsolete. a desperado.
Origin of desperate
1synonym study For desperate
Other words for desperate
Opposites for desperate
Other words from desperate
- des·per·ate·ly, adverb
- des·per·ate·ness, noun
- qua·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. 2023
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 PostThese 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 PostWhat 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 | DigidayFor 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 PostIf 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.
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 CullumThe inroads of hunger were already experienced; and this knowledge of the desperateness of my calamity urged me to frenzy.
Edgar Huntley | Charles Brockden BrownFrom 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. LeeA 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 BrowningThen 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
/ (ˈdɛspərɪt, -prɪt) /
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
(often postpositive and foll by for) in distress and having a great need or desire
moved by or showing despair or hopelessness; despairing
Origin of desperate
1Derived forms of desperate
- desperately, adverb
- desperateness, noun
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
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