Definitions for desperate
ˈdɛs pər ɪt, -prɪtdes·per·ate

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. desperateadjective

   a person who is frightened and in need of help

   "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"

2. despairing, desperateadjective

   arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope

   "a despairing view of the world situation"; "the last despairing plea of the condemned criminal"; "a desperate cry for help"; "helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether"; "her desperate screams"

3. desperate, do-or-die(a)adjective

   desperately determined

   "do-or-die revolutionaries"; "a do-or-die conflict"

4. desperateadjective

   (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair

   "a desperate criminal"; "taken hostage of desperate men"

5. desperate, heroicadjective

   showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort

   "made a last desperate attempt to reach the climber"; "the desperate gallantry of our naval task forces marked the turning point in the Pacific war"- G.C.Marshall; "they took heroic measures to save his life"

6. desperateadjective

   showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire

   "felt a desperate urge to confess"; "a desperate need for recognition"

7. desperate, direadjective

   fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless

   "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"- G.C.Marshall; "a dire emergency"

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.7 / 3 votes

1. desperateadjective

   Being filled with, or in a state of despair; hopeless.

   I was so desperate at one point, I even went to see a loan shark.

2. desperateadjective

   Reckless abandon in the pursuit of an extreme desire.

3. desperateadjective

   Extremely intense.

4. Etymology: From desperatus, past participle of despero

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. DESPERATEadjective

   Etymology: desperatus, Latin.

   1. Without hope.

   Since his exile she hath despis’d me most;
   Forsworn my company, and rail’d at me,
   That I am desperate of obtaining her. William Shakespeare.

   2. Without care of safety; rash; precipitant; fearless of danger.

   Can you think, my lords,
   That any Englishman dare give me counsel,
   Or be a known friend ’gainst his highness’ pleasure,
   Though he be grown so desperate to be honest,
   And live a subject. William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

   He who goes on without any care or thought of reforming, such an one we vulgarly call a desperate person, and that sure is a most damning sin. Henry Hammond, Pract. Catech.

   3. Irretrievable; unsurmountable; irrecoverable.

   These debts may be well called desperate ones; for a mad man owes them. William Shakespeare, Timon.

   In a part of Asia the sick, when their case comes to be thought desperate, are carried out and laid on the earth, before they are dead, and left there. John Locke.

   I am a man of desperate fortunes, that is, a man whose friends are dead; for I never aimed at any other fortune than in friends. Alexander Pope, to Swift.

   4. Mad; hot-brained; furious.

   Were it not the part of a desperate physician to wish his friend dead, rather than to apply the best endeavours of his skill for his recovery? Edmund Spenser, State of Ireland.

   5. It is sometimes used in a sense nearly ludicrous, and only marks any bad quality predominating in a high degree.

   Concluding all mere desp’rate sots and fools,
   That durst depart from Aristotle ’s rules. Alexander Pope, Ess. on Crit.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. desperate

   Desperate refers to a state of despair or hopelessness, typically causing or involving a frantic or reckless effort to do or achieve something. It is feeling or showing a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with. It can also mean having a great need or desire for something.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:2.6 / 5 votes

1. Desperateadjective

   without hope; given to despair; hopeless

2. Desperateadjective

   beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or, at least, extremely dangerous; as, a desperate disease; desperate fortune

3. Desperateadjective

   proceeding from, or suggested by, despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as, a desperate effort

4. Desperateadjective

   extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality

5. Desperatenoun

   one desperate or hopeless

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Desperate

   Desperate is a 1947 suspense film noir directed by Anthony Mann.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Desperate

   des′pėr-āt, adj. in a state of despair: hopeless: beyond hope: fearless of danger: rash: furious.—adv. Des′perately.—ns. Des′perateness, Desperā′tion, state of despair: disregard of danger: fury. [See Despair.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'desperate' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3806

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'desperate' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2918

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'desperate' in Adjectives Frequency: #493

How to pronounce desperate?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say desperate in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of desperate in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of desperate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of desperate in a Sentence

1. Christopher Granville:

   The national savings buffers are worth around 6.5 percent of GDP at present and that's the basis of saying they will run out of cash by the middle of next year - unless the oil price goes up, but to eke out the buffers until the election will require meaningful spending cuts now... Desperate times call for desperate measures.

2. Henry David Thoreau:

   Why should we be in such desperate hast to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

3. Ahmed Korayem:

   Desperate times calls for more than simply desperate measures. It calls for putting one's values aside till the desperation subsides" --Mental Hell, Chapter 3

4. Federica Mogherini:

   We need to fight the organizations that are trafficking and smuggling people, so that we can prevent desperate people from leaving in desperate conditions, my pain is that it was a reaction coming too late after so many people died.

5. Horatio Nelson:

   Desperate affairs require desperate remedies.

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