Desperate
['desp(ə)rət] or ['dɛspərət]
Definition
(noun.) a person who is frightened and in need of help; 'they prey on the hopes of the desperate'.
(adj.) 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' .
(adj.) 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' .
(adj.) showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire; 'felt a desperate urge to confess'; 'a desperate need for recognition' .
(adj.) desperately determined; 'do-or-die revolutionaries'; 'a do-or-die conflict' .
(adj.) (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair; 'a desperate criminal'; 'taken hostage of desperate men' .
Checked by Edwin--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Without hope; given to despair; hopeless.
(a.) Beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or, at least, extremely dangerous; as, a desperate disease; desperate fortune.
(a.) Proceeding from, or suggested by, despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as, a desperate effort.
(a.) Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality.
(n.) One desperate or hopeless.
Checked by Harlan
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Despairing, hopeless, without hope.[2]. Wretched, forlorn, beyond hope.[3]. Rash, reckless, precipitate, headlong, frantic.
Checked by Groves
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Wild, daring, audacious, determined, reckless, abandoned, rash, furious,frantic, despairing, regardless, mad, desponding, hapless, inextricable,irremediable
ANT:Cool, calm, cautious, timid, shy, irresolute, remediable, hopeful, promising,propitious
Typist: Wanda
Definition
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.
Inputed by Ferdinand
Examples
- Happily Rosamond did not think of committing any desperate act: she plaited her fair hair as beautifully as usual, and kept herself proudly calm. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Why, George, this state of mind is awful; it's getting really desperate George. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- After more communing with herself next day, she arrived at the desperate conclusion of consulting Harry. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- It seemed to me that he was making desperate efforts to restrain a convulsive attack of laughter. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Ladies,' roared Mr. Pickwick, rendered desperate by the danger of his situation. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- You are desperate, full of fancies, and wilful; and you misunderstand. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I am a Briton, said Miss Pross, I am desperate. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- After a debauch with some desperate woman, he went on quite easy and forgetful. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Wounded desperate, miss,' replied Giles, with indescribable complacency. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- The story of the desperate attempt to which I now stood committed begins here. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I was already a dying and a desperate man. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- I have already observed that I don't know how this desperate idea came into my brain. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The morning was wearing away; he grew desperate. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- Revenge is sometimes sweet, even to the most forgiving lady, when the manner of it is not too desperate. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- But few words sufficed to tell Laura and Marian how my desperate venture had ended, and what the next event in our lives was likely to be. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Edited by Karl