desperate

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Needing or wanting something so much that you will do anything to get it.

   I hadn't eaten in two days and was desperate for food.

2. 2
   adj

   Feeling that you have no hope and are ready to do anything.

   He was so desperate that he borrowed money from a loan shark.

3. 3
   adj

   Very serious, dangerous or almost hopeless.

   The situation in the flooded town was desperate.

Common collocations

• desperate cry Adjective + noun

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).

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