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 of desperately

• extremely
• terribly
• badly
• incredibly
• very
• too
• so
• really
• damn
• damned
• highly
• severely
• seriously
• intensely
• that
• greatly
• far
• especially
• wildly
• fiercely
• heavily
• much

Examples of desperately in a Sentence

all of a sudden everything went desperately wrong

Recent Examples on the Web

Silva has been the ultimate cohesion player for Guardiola and he will be desperately missed. —Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 24 May 2026

The global music superstar sat courtside at Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night along with fiance and Cleveland native Travis Kelce as the Cavaliers hosted the New York Knicks desperately needing a win in the series. —ABC News, 23 May 2026

By its end, there is even less coherence between the characters and plotlines, diverging into a few pages from the perspective of a desperately horny lesbian crab. —Literary Hub, 21 May 2026

The Chargers desperately needed more capable play at center after the last two seasons with Bozeman. —Daniel Popper, New York Times, 21 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

desperate + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1