as in hopeless
feeling or showing no hope
desperate cancer patients who are vulnerable to the claims of unscrupulous quacks
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Recent Examples of desperate
At the time, water agencies were desperate for water rights.
—
Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2025
The movie hints that Maje was desperate to maintain her freedom and continue her various relationships with other men without being tied down by her husband.
—Samantha Stutsman, People.com, 4 June 2025
In Vietnam, the bile farming boom followed moves by the country in 1986 to open international trade and adopt some free-market policies, spurring financially desperate people to start these makeshift bear farms.
—Ryley Graham, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
The show’s focus puller also does the Lord’s work in the last shot of the beat, just after Deborah’s face turns and looks toward the camera, flashing red for one desperate second before going fuzzy and indistinct, like a drunken exhale.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2025
The movie hints that Maje was desperate to maintain her freedom and continue her various relationships with other men without being tied down by her husband.
—Samantha Stutsman, People.com, 4 June 2025
In Vietnam, the bile farming boom followed moves by the country in 1986 to open international trade and adopt some free-market policies, spurring financially desperate people to start these makeshift bear farms.
—Ryley Graham, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
The show’s focus puller also does the Lord’s work in the last shot of the beat, just after Deborah’s face turns and looks toward the camera, flashing red for one desperate second before going fuzzy and indistinct, like a drunken exhale.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 3 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperate
Adjective
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The longtime psych-rock staple co-wrote the album with filmmaker Matt Yoka to be a collection of American stories about hopeless kleptomaniacs, urban explorers, and other people who slip through the cracks.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
30 May 2025
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All seemed hopeless for Moore and Mansell, until, out of the blue, a lawyer with the Office of the White House Counsel contacted Moore’s defense lawyers, Seitles and Litwin-Diego, in April to inquire about the case.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Additionally, the more fiscally conservative Senate is increasingly unhappy with the cost of the bill, which is estimated to add $3.1 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
10 June 2025
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Four of its main characters are in unhappy marriages and cheating on their spouses, which is sometimes awkwardly played for laughs.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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To some, this may sound bizarre, laughable, or even just plain sad.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 June 2025
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Banks: There’s a reason why the theater [symbol] is a happy face/sad face.—
Lorraine Ali,
Los Angeles Times,
7 June 2025
Adjective
-
Gilgeous-Alexander seemed disappointed but not worried about the outcome.—
Matt Levine,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
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More: 'Very disappointed': Trump continues to criticize Putin's war tactics during negotiations Ukraine's delegation will also include its deputy foreign minister, as well as several military and intelligence officials, according to an executive order by Zelenskiy on Sunday.—
Vladimir Soldatkin,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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The film necessarily presents a despairing view of America as its 20th-century glory days recede into the distance, but Schrader isn’t one to shirk away from some form of hope for his isolated priest.—
Vikram Murthi,
Vulture,
21 Jan. 2025
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These lines represent Elisabeth at her most despairing.—
Elizabeth Djinis,
Smithsonian Magazine,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The British showrunner of that blisteringly cynical drama spent five years and 39 episodes giving us a portrait of filthy rich people pulling strings and behaving badly.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
31 May 2025
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But the message at the heart of Isle of Dogs, that saving others is the only way to save one’s self, is enough to turn the most cynical viewer into a believer—and maybe even a dog lover.—
Shannon Carlin,
Time,
30 May 2025
Adjective
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Malec does not have to worry about Bauer getting too excited when everything is going right or Bauer becoming despondent in tough times.—
Steve Fryer,
Oc Register,
29 May 2025
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Come day’s end, less than 48 hours removed from that Friday 64, following a week of extremes, Homa stood despondent, sounding like a man ready to walk away from it all.—
Brendan Quinn,
New York Times,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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The second track on the LP told the story of a heartbroken barmaid pining after a sailor who refused to give up his nomadically maritime lifestyle for her.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
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Courtesy of Lionsgate The heartbroken little girl with the ballerina music box will grow up to be Ana de Armas’ Eve Macarro, a young woman bent on—what else?—avenging her father’s murder.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperate. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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