desperate
B2formal, informal, literary
Definition
Meaning
feeling or showing that you have little hope and are ready to do anything to change a situation, no matter how extreme, reckless, or dangerous.
Used to describe a situation that is extremely serious, bad, or dangerous; or an action taken as a last resort due to extreme need or urgency.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Adjective only in modern English. Historically used as a verb (to desperate), now obsolete. Implies a sense of urgency, hopelessness, and extremity.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant syntactic differences. The adverb 'desperately' is equally common in both varieties.
Connotations
Identical core connotations. Slight nuance in 'a desperate measure' may sound slightly more formal in UK English.
Frequency
Equally common in both varieties. Collocation 'desperate for' is slightly more frequent in UK corpus data.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
be desperate for somethingbe desperate to do somethingin desperate need of somethingVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “desperate times call for desperate measures”
- “throw a Hail Mary (related concept)”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Referring to extreme competitive tactics or a company's critical financial state.
Academic
Used in literary analysis, history, or sociology to describe characters or societal conditions.
Everyday
Describing a strong desire or a very difficult personal situation.
Technical
Rare; may appear in psychology texts discussing emotional states or crisis intervention.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- (Obsolete) No modern examples.
American English
- (Obsolete) No modern examples.
adverb
British English
- (Not standard; use 'desperately') They searched desperately for the lost child.
American English
- (Not standard; use 'desperately') He clutched the ledge desperately.
adjective
British English
- The refugees were desperate for food and clean water.
- He made a desperate lunge for the ball but missed.
American English
- She was desperate to find a job before her savings ran out.
- The team made a desperate last-minute attempt to score.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- He was desperate for a drink of water.
- They are desperate to see their family.
- The doctor said it was a desperate situation.
- She felt desperate when she lost her passport.
- The government is taking desperate measures to control inflation.
- In a desperate bid to save the company, they sold their headquarters.
- Her eyes held a desperate, haunted look that spoke of sleepless nights.
- The ceasefire was a desperate gambit by a regime on the brink of collapse.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
DESPerate: Imagine a DESert where a Person is Perishing - they are in a desperate situation with little hope.
Conceptual Metaphor
DESPERATION IS A DEEP HOLE / DESPERATION IS A LAST RESORT
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'отчаянный' which can mean 'daring' or 'reckless' in a positive, brave sense. 'Desperate' lacks that positive connotation.
- Avoid direct translation of 'desperate for' as 'отчаянный для'. Use 'отчаянно нуждаться в'.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'desperate' as a verb (*I desperated for water).
- Confusing 'desperate' (extreme need) with 'disparate' (fundamentally different).
- Overusing to mean simply 'very much' (e.g., *I'm desperate for a coffee - only if context shows extreme, comical need).
Practice
Quiz
Which phrase uses 'desperate' INCORRECTLY?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Very rarely and only through ironic or specific contextual framing, e.g., 'a desperate optimism'. Its core meaning is negative, involving hopelessness and extremity.
'Desperate' implies frantic action taken *because of* a lack of hope. 'Hopeless' simply describes the absence of hope, often leading to inaction. A desperate person still acts; a hopeless one may not.
Yes, this is a common and correct pattern ('desperate for + [object] + to-infinitive') expressing an intense desire for a specific event to happen.
In contemporary English, it is exclusively an adjective. The related adverb is 'desperately'. The verb form 'to desperate' is obsolete.