Synonyms for desperate
ˈdɛs pər ɪt, -prɪtdes·per·ate

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. desperate

   Synonyms:
   wild, daring, audacious, determined, reckless, abandoned, rash, furious, frantic, despairing, regardless, mad, desponding, hapless, inextricable, irremediable

   Antonyms:
   cool, calm, cautious, timid, shy, irresolute, remediable, hopeful, promising, propitious

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 2 votes

1. desperateadjective

   a person who is frightened and in need of help

   "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"

   Antonyms:
   cowardly, beseeching, imploring, fearful, hopeful, noncritical, noncrucial, pleading, irresolute, safe

2. despairing, desperateadjective

   arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope

   "a despairing view of the world situation"; "the last despairing plea of the condemned criminal"; "a desperate cry for help"; "helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether"; "her desperate screams"

   Synonyms:
   heroic, do-or-die(a), despairing, dire

   Antonyms:
   cowardly, hopeful, fearful, safe, noncrucial, beseeching, imploring, pleading, irresolute, noncritical

3. desperate, do-or-die(a)adjective

   desperately determined

   "do-or-die revolutionaries"; "a do-or-die conflict"

   Antonyms:
   noncrucial, fearful, imploring, beseeching, irresolute, safe, hopeful, noncritical, cowardly, pleading

4. desperateadjective

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

   "a desperate criminal"; "taken hostage of desperate men"

   Synonyms:
   heroic, do-or-die(a), dire, despairing

   Antonyms:
   fearful, irresolute, noncrucial, safe, beseeching, pleading, noncritical, cowardly, imploring, hopeful

5. desperate, heroicadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   heroical, dire, do-or-die(a), epic, heroic, larger-than-life, despairing, expansive, grand

   Antonyms:
   imploring, cowardly, fearful, noncritical, noncrucial, pleading, safe, beseeching, hopeful, irresolute

6. desperateadjective

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

   "felt a desperate urge to confess"; "a desperate need for recognition"

   Synonyms:
   heroic, do-or-die(a), dire, despairing

   Antonyms:
   hopeful, imploring, fearful, noncrucial, pleading, beseeching, safe, irresolute, cowardly, noncritical

7. desperate, direadjective

   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"

   Synonyms:
   dread(a), fearful, dreaded, dire, terrible, do-or-die(a), horrendous, fearsome, horrific, heroic, awful, frightening, despairing, direful, dreadful

   Antonyms:
   cowardly, pleading, irresolute, noncritical, fearful, safe, imploring, hopeful, noncrucial, beseeching

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. desperateadjective

   Synonyms:
   despairing, hopeless, without hope

2. desperateadjective

   Synonyms:
   wretched, forlorn, beyond hope

3. desperateadjective

   Synonyms:
   rash, reckless, precipitate, headlong, frantic

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. desperateadjective

   Synonyms:
   irretrievable, hopeless, incurable, remediless, outrageous, atrocious, monstrous, heinous

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "desperate":

   hopeless, despairing, dire, frantic, distraught, bereft, despair

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How to use desperate in a sentence?

1. Seema Shah:

   The Chinese government believes that President Trump is desperate for a deal before the end of the year, when the race for the presidential election will really heat up, trump's latest comments are a ploy to regain the upper hand in these negotiations.

2. Ayesha Ijaz Khan:

   Unless we get loans from friendly countries or the IMF, we actually won't have in another two or three months enough foreign exchange to service our debts or to pay for our imports. So we're desperate at the moment.

3. Ed Winter:

   There are more than one billion people on the African continent, which is home to just 3% of the world's aviation business, it is clear that the continent remains in desperate need of improved and affordable aviation connectivity.

4. Federica Mogherini:

   We need to fight the organizations that are trafficking and smuggling people, so that we can prevent desperate people from leaving in desperate conditions, my pain is that it was a reaction coming too late after so many people died.

5. Syrian Nora Joumblatt in response:

   We are in danger of losing generations of young Syrian girls due to the lack of education, desperate and displaced Syrians are increasingly seeing early marriage as a way to secure the social and financial future of their daughters. We need to provide an alternative: Keep young girls in school instead of being pressured into wedlock.