desperation
Americannoun
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the state of being desperate or of having the recklessness of despair.
-
the act or fact of despairing; despair.
noun
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desperate recklessness
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the act of despairing or the state of being desperate
Synonym Usage
See despair.
Etymology
Origin of desperation
1325–75; Middle English desperacioun < Latin dēspērātiōn- (stem of dēspērātiō ). See desperate, -ion
Explanation
Desperation is a hopeless state. If you learned that your friend had sold her beloved shoe collection, you'd know she did it out of desperation. When you've lost hope or have run out of possible solutions to a problem, you're experiencing desperation. The word implies a reckless kind of frustration. For example, a person who hasn't eaten in three days might steal food out of desperation. The origin of the word traces back to the Latin desperare, "to lose all hope," which is formed from the prefix de-, "without," added to sperare, "hope."
Vocabulary lists containing desperation
Where the Red Fern Grows
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Stargirl
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Baseball in April
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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.
And she goes further, delivering the word “sorry” with oddly pleasing dissonance at one point and, at another, extending the word “no” to suggest both desperation and humor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Flores tried this week, out of financial desperation, but has yet to make a sale, “because there’s just too many flies.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Before she could even get home, "I had already received a video of the building on the ground...That's when the desperation moved to another level."
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
"They are voting in desperation for services instead of party identity just to escape the dire living circumstances we know are so widespread," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
I wondered when was the last time the government had tried to improve National Highway 1, but I wondered even more about the visible desperation of everyday lives.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
