desperation

CEFRC1

/ˌdɛspəˈɹeɪʃən/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A state of having little hope and being willing to do anything.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A state of despair, or utter hopelessness; abandonment of hope.

Examples

  • The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

  • To tell the truth, she gave away all her money to others in desperation.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2
Synonyms
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Reckless fury.

  2. The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.

  3. Ellipsis of bladder desperation.

More examples

In context

  • We arrived at that plan out of pure desperation, but the book sold well.

  • in desperation

  • utter desperation

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In a moment of blank, he sold his cherished heirloom for a fraction of its value.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English desperacion, desperacioun, desperation, disparacion, disperacion, disperacioun, dispiracioune, dysperacioun, from Middle French desperation and its etymon Latin dēspērātiō, dēspērātiōnis. By surface analysis, desperate + -ion.