Meaning

6 senses

  1. In dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire.

    I hadn't eaten in two days and was desperate for food.

    desperate to eat; desperate for attention

    verzweifelt bemüht, sehnsuchtsvoll verlangend

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

  2. 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.

    verzweifelt

    отча́янныйotčájannyj

    розпа́чливийrozpáčlyvyj

  3. Beyond hope, leaving little reason for hope; causing despair; extremely perilous.

    a desperate disease; desperate fortune

    aussichtslos, hoffnungslos

    arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope

  4. Involving or employing extreme measures, without regard to danger or safety; reckless due to hopelessness.

    He dove into the rushing waters in a desperate effort to save her life.

    verzweifelt, wahnwitzig, irrsinnig

    безрассу́дныйbezrassúdnyj

    відчайду́шнийvidčajdúšnyj

  5. Extremely bad; outrageous, shocking; intolerable.

  6. Intense; extremely intense.

    відчайду́шнийvidčajdúšnyj

Examples

637 sentences

  1. Tom told me he was desperate.

    Том сказав мені, що він у розпачі.

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  2. Tom told me that he was desperate.

    Том сказав мені, що він у розпачі.

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  3. Tom says he's desperate.

    Том каже, що він у відчаї.

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  4. Tom is desperate, isn't he?

    Том у відчаї, чи не так?

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  5. I grew desperate.

    Я впав у розпач.

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Translations

8 languages
Українська
By meaning 2
filled with despair:
having reckless abandon:
Русский
By meaning 2
filled with despair:
having reckless abandon:
Deutsch
By meaning 4
in dire need (of something):
filled with despair:
beyond hope:
having reckless abandon:

Origin

From Middle English desperat(e) (“desperate”), borrowed from Latin dēspērātus, perfect pas

From Middle English desperat(e) (“desperate”), borrowed from Latin dēspērātus, perfect passive participle of dēspērō (“to be without hope”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). The noun is derived from the adjective or from the Latin source through substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

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Forms

more desperate, most desperate/desperatest
Comparativemore desperate Lesson
Superlativemost desperate / desperatest Lesson

regular

Synonyms

4 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort:heroic
  • fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless:dire
  • desperately determined:do-or-die
  • arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope:despairing

Word family

8 related words
RelateddespairB1desperado
DeriveddesperatelyB2desperationB2desperatenessnondesperateoverdesperateundesperate

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

Collocations

12 patterns
  • desperate to do
  • was desperate to
  • would be desperate
  • as desperate to
  • to be desperate
  • still desperate to
  • be as desperate
  • is still desperate
  • will be desperate
  • desperate need of
  • to feel desperate
  • must be desperate

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
desolatedesolationB2despairB1desperatelyB2desperationB2despicable
desperate — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto