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

The Giants desperately need Thomas, who has missed 18 games the past two seasons, to stay healthy. —Dan Duggan, New York Times, 19 June 2025

However, heroin smuggling is the very same enterprise Harlan worked desperately to extract himself from decades earlier. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 19 June 2025

The bear tried desperately to hang on but couldn’t muster the strength. —Mike Combs, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2025

More Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images If Haliburton can't give it a go, others will desperately need to step up for Indiana. —Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

desperate + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1