Desperate Meaning
/ˈdɛs.p(ə.)ɹɪt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjIn dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire.
adjBeing filled with, or in a state of, despair; hopeless.
Sentence Examples
Desperate men often do desperate things.
Suicide is a desperate act.
Police described the killer as ‘a desperate and evil man’.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The stranded hikers grew increasingly ____ as their food and water ran out.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hungry man became ____ enough to steal some bread for his family.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Since his exile she hath despised me most,
Forsworn my company and rail'd at me,
That I am desperate of obtaining her."
— c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
"“[…] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”"
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater."
— 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
"In England his flute was not in request; there were no convents; and he was forced to have recourse to a series of desperate expedients."
— 1879, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “GOLDSMITH, Oliver”, in The Encyclopædia Britannica […] , Ninth edition, Volume X, Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, page 761, column 2:
"“I knew very well that when the Peruvian Indian does anything wrong it is because he is forced to it by oppression and made desperate by abuse,” replied Lucia."
— 1904, Clorinda Matto de Turner, Birds Without a Nest: A Story of Indian Life and Priestly Oppression in Peru, page 218:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The stranded hikers grew increasingly ____ as their food and water ran out.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The hungry man became ____ enough to steal some bread for his family.