English Online Dictionary. What means desperate? What does desperate mean?
English
Etymology
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).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɛsp(ə)ɹət/
Adjective
desperate (comparative more desperate or (rare) desperater, superlative most desperate or (dated) desperatest)
- In dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire.
- Being filled with, or in a state of, despair; hopeless.
- Beyond hope, leaving little reason for hope; causing despair; extremely perilous.
- Involving or employing extreme measures, without regard to danger or safety; reckless due to hopelessness.
- Extremely bad; outrageous, shocking; intolerable.
- 2022 September 2, Irish People Try American-Style Pancakes, circa 8:12:
- Whoever's writing the stuff on this has desperate handwriting, like they must be a doctor...
- Intense; extremely intense.
Derived terms
Related terms
- despair
- desperado
Translations
Noun
desperate (plural desperates)
- A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, addict, etc.
See also
Anagrams
- departees
Danish
Adjective
desperate
- plural and definite singular attributive of desperat
Latin
Verb
dēspērāte
- second-person plural present active imperative of dēspērō
References
- “desperate”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- desperate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Norwegian Bokmål
Adjective
desperate
- definite singular of desperat
- plural of desperat
Norwegian Nynorsk
Adjective
desperate
- definite singular of desperat
- plural of desperat
Spanish
Verb
desperate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of desperar combined with te