desperation
Americannoun
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the state of being desperate or of having the recklessness of despair.
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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
Related Words
See despair.
Etymology
Origin of desperation
1325–75; Middle English desperacioun < Latin dēspērātiōn- (stem of dēspērātiō ). See desperate, -ion
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.
His comrades have been slowly picked off, and without human connections he has further transformed into a hunted animal, driven to elude his pursuers purely by “anger and desperation.”
“Mama,” I said in desperation, “you can’t make me go to my room now. I have to go down in the bottoms tonight and dig a hole.”
From Literature
As the upset to end all upsets loomed large, Scotland pounded hard at the Welsh line, their desperation in full flow, the home defiance bordering on the heroic.
From BBC
Swinney suggested it was "desperation" which drove his opponents to make such serious claims.
From BBC
“Maybe you should just tell them the truth,” Chip had suggested, as a last resort, in desperation.
From Literature
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.
