desperate
Americanadjective
-
reckless or dangerous because of despair, hopelessness, or urgency.
a desperate killer.
- Antonyms:
- careful
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- grave
- Antonyms:
- hopeful
-
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.
- Antonyms:
- hopeful
noun
adjective
-
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
-
in distress and having a great need or desire
-
moved by or showing despair or hopelessness; despairing
Related Words
See hopeless.
Other Word Forms
- desperately adverb
- desperateness noun
- quasi-desperate adjective
Etymology
Origin of desperate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin dēspērātus, past participle of dēspērāre “to be without hope, despair”; despair, -ate 1
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.
Credit to them for having the bottle to win those games, but they were all desperate grinds.
From BBC
It’s part of what makes her desperate struggle for some adolescent normalcy so resonant.
From Salon
That led some desperate sellers to either cut their asking prices or take their homes off the market entirely.
From MarketWatch
Racked with torment over her proximity to evil, Hilda makes a desperate confession to a Catholic priest, who happens to be a New Englander.
Meanwhile Annie’s increasingly desperate quest to locate her lost mother takes some curious turns.
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.
