desperately

adverb

des·​per·​ate·​ly ˈde-sp(ə-)rət-lē 

-spərt-

1

: in a way that involves despair, extreme measures, or rashness : in a desperate manner

struggling desperately

desperately crying out

2

: extremely, terribly

desperately tired

desperately important

Synonyms

• achingly
• almighty
• archly
• awful
• awfully
• badly
• beastly
• blisteringly
• bone
• colossally
• corking
• cracking
• damn
• damned
• dang
• deadly
• eminently
• enormously
• especially
• ever
• exceedingly
• exceeding
• extra
• extremely
• fabulously
• fantastically
• far
• fiercely
• filthy
• frightfully
• full
• greatly
• heavily
• highly
• hugely
• immensely
• incredibly
• intensely
• jolly
• majorly
• mightily
• mighty
• monstrous [chiefly dialect]
• mortally
• most
• much
• particularly
• passing
• rattling
• real
• really
• right
• roaring
• roaringly
• seriously
• severely
• so
• sore
• sorely
• spanking
• specially
• stinking
• such
• super
• supremely
• surpassingly
• terribly
• that
• thumping
• too
• unco
• uncommonly
• vastly
• very
• vitally
• way
• whacking
• wicked
• wildly

Examples of desperately in a Sentence

all of a sudden everything went desperately wrong

Recent Examples on the Web

At the same time, his son, Luke, was playing for the Lakers in a tense postseason, and Bill desperately wanted to inspire him. —Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2024

But with the conflict now in its third year and with Ukrainian forces struggling all along the front line, Kyiv desperately needs more soldiers. —Constant Méheut, New York Times, 24 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

desperate + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1