desperate

Plural: desperates

Noun

• a person who is frightened and in need of help
  • "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"
• A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, addict, etc.

Adjective Satellite

• arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope
  • "a desperate cry for help"
  • "helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether"
  • "her desperate screams"
• desperately determined
• (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair
  • "a desperate criminal"
  • "taken hostage of desperate men"
• showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort; ; - G.C.Marshall
  • "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"
• showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire
  • "felt a desperate urge to confess"
  • "a desperate need for recognition"
• fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; ; - G.C.Marshall
  • "a desperate illness"
  • "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"

Adj

• In dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire.
• Being filled with, or in a state of, despair; hopeless.
• Beyond hope, leaving little reason for hope; causing despair; extremely perilous.
• Involving or employing extreme measures, without regard to danger or safety; reckless due to hopelessness.
• Extremely bad; outrageous, shocking; intolerable.
• Intense; extremely intense.

Examples

• a desperate disease; desperate fortune
• desperate to eat; desperate for attention
• He dove into the rushing waters in a desperate effort to save her life.
• I hadn't eaten in two days and was desperate for food.
• I was so desperate at one point, I even went to see a loan shark.

Synonyms

despairing, dire, do-or-die, heroic

Related Words

despair, desperado, disparate

Anagrams of desperate