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. G.K. Chesterton:

   Hope is the power of being cheerful in circumstances that we know to be desperate.

2. Jackson Lee:

   Mr. Safi came across the Rio Grande with a group of migrants after being beaten in another country and desperate to find a way to reach America to see freedom, unfortunately, his entry was at a non-port of entry and Mr. Safi has been held ever since in detention facilities. What happened over the last couple of weeks was a strategic and forceful effort to bring all agencies together to make the right decision for Mr. Safi.

3. Abbey Collins:

   We rolled out a new low dollar campaign to reach a wide variety of supporters and as part of that effort reached out to our network, just as Ms. Nixon’s campaign has dozens of contributions from her staff and their family members, as the latest filing and poll numbers show, Cynthia’s campaign is on life support, which is why her lines are getting increasingly more combative and desperate.

4. Leonard Cohen:

   What is most original in a man's nature is often that which is most desperate. Thus new systems are forced on the world by men who simply cannot bear the pain of living with what is. Creators care nothing for their systems except that they be unique. If Hitler had been born in Nazi Germany he wouldn't have been content to enjoy the atmosphere.

5. Soojin Choi:

   For the last two years, we have been the target of relentless hatred, bigotry and violence over and over again, but no matter how many times these attacks occur we will speak out every single time to draw attention to the injustice, the pain and the desperate need for the government to take action.