DESPERATE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does desperate mean? 

• DESPERATE (noun)
  The noun DESPERATE has 1 sense:

1. a person who is frightened and in need of help

  Familiarity information: DESPERATE used as a noun is very rare.

• DESPERATE (adjective)
  The adjective DESPERATE has 6 senses:

1. arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope

2. desperately determined

3. (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair

4. showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort

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

6. fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless

  Familiarity information: DESPERATE used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DESPERATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is frightened and in need of help

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

they prey on the hopes of the desperate

Hypernyms ("desperate" is a kind of...):

unfortunate; unfortunate person (a person who suffers misfortune)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "desperate"):

goner; toast (a person in desperate straits; someone doomed)

Derivation:

despair (abandon hope; give up hope; lose heart)

• DESPERATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope

Synonyms:

despairing; desperate

Context example:

her desperate screams

Similar:

hopeless (without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Desperately determined

Synonyms:

desperate; do-or-die

Context example:

a do-or-die conflict

Similar:

resolute (firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair

Context example:

taken hostage of desperate men

Similar:

dangerous; unsafe (involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort

Synonyms:

desperate; heroic

Context example:

they took heroic measures to save his life

Similar:

brave; courageous (possessing or displaying courage; able to face and deal with danger or fear without flinching)

Sense 5

Meaning:

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

Context example:

a desperate need for recognition

Similar:

imperative (requiring attention or action)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless

Synonyms:

desperate; dire

Context example:

a dire emergency

Similar:

critical (being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency)

 Context examples 

In truth, he was desperate and worried.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I have already observed that I don't know how this desperate idea came into my brain.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He was as quick as she, however, and darted off in desperate flight.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He made one desperate attempt to pull out on the trail.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

By the way, Jo, I think that little Parker is really getting desperate about Amy.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It should be pointed out that this is not a desperate situation.

(Aedes mosquitoes almost impossible to eradicate, says Brazilian researcher, Agência Brasil)

We must not make him desperate.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Wolf Larsen had separated from Latimer and was coming toward us. I was desperate.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"I'll do something desperate!" he cried.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I was already a dying and a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl!

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)