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

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

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 WordNet(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate these synonyms:

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 Synonymes(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

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 Words(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these synonyms:

1. desperateadjective

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

PPDB, the paraphrase database(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate these paraphrases:

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. Park Chang-in:

   Elderly people are so aggressive and desperate in seeking employment after losing jobs that they are willing to take low-wage jobs even at factories that young people avoid.

2. Michel Eyquem de Montaigne:

   Marriage is like a cage one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.

3. Robert Gellman:

   People assume all their health information is covered by HIPAA and that's just not true, wellness programs are on the border. Some are and some aren't. How can a mere mortal tell? A lot of information can escape into the great American marketing machine, which is desperate to get information on a person's health.

4. Paulina Porizkova:

   'Put on your clothes, grandma. Hungry for attention, are you? A little desperate here? You’re pathetic,' why is sexiness and nudity applauded in a woman’s youth and reviled in her maturity? Because of men.

5. Patrick Corcoran:

   There are two schools of thought, people will be very tense and careful and nervous, or people will just be desperate to get out of the house. It's going to probably be a mixture.

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