as in hopeless
feeling or showing no hope
desperate cancer patients who are vulnerable to the claims of unscrupulous quacks
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of desperate
Rather than viewing the insinuating and undeniably creepy Gacy as an inherent threat, Macmanus finds the tragedy in the disparate and desperate circumstances amid which Gacy might have represented an illusion of hope.
—
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2025
The second new experience came in the third period, with the Wild trailing 3-0 and in desperate need of a spark.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 15 Oct. 2025
Traveling and running around the city left my back and shoulders desperate for relief.
—Essence, 14 Oct. 2025
Right now, airlines can use technology to identify and exploit the funeral attendee’s desperate circumstances.
—Aradhna Krishna, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2025
The second new experience came in the third period, with the Wild trailing 3-0 and in desperate need of a spark.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 15 Oct. 2025
Traveling and running around the city left my back and shoulders desperate for relief.
—Essence, 14 Oct. 2025
Right now, airlines can use technology to identify and exploit the funeral attendee’s desperate circumstances.
—Aradhna Krishna, The Conversation, 14 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperate
Adjective
-
To summarize, the protagonist, lost in hopeless days, eventually stumbles upon a deserted dance hall.—
Billboard Japan,
Billboard,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The movie, which premiered in the midnights section of the Toronto International Film Festival, follows a hopeless romantic who makes a Faustian bargain to win his crush’s heart.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Jason Kelce, brother of Travis and former star of the Philadelphia Eagles, has issued a statement after a fake quote of him appearing to criticize those unhappy with the selection of Bad Bunny for the Super Bowl Halftime Show went viral.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
15 Oct. 2025
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Advertisement Lawmakers are reportedly unhappy with briefings on the strikes, unable to clarify the legal basis of the strikes, and the refusal from Pentagon officials to provide unedited video footage of such incidents.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Steve's wife, Chelsey Bridges, announced the sad news on Friday in a video shared to her late husband's social pages.—
Mekishana Pierre,
Entertainment Weekly,
17 Oct. 2025
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This admission seemed sad—critics are supposed to take pride in withstanding disagreement.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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But Go-myung remains disappointed.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
17 Oct. 2025
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Palvin, who revealed before the show that the nerves still get to her, seemed at times disappointed in the crowd's reaction, motioning upward with her hands, expecting more applause.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Exhausted and despairing, many Palestinians had their own reasons for refusing to pack up and uproot themselves again.—
WAFAA SHURAFA,
Arkansas Online,
7 Sep. 2025
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People are despairing over the Supreme Court and its deference to the president.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
Adjective
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Talk of a solution—of two states, of a confederation, of nearly any prospect for a secure and free mode of coexistence—has long been dismissed as either an ingenuous assertion of faith or a cynical pantomime, an empty gesture toward a future no one expects to see.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
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As my colleague Charlie Warzel wrote in March, on X, the White House is now a troll account, borrowing its snide visual language and tone from some of the internet’s most cynical spaces and deploying this style to mock and dehumanize people.—
Kaitlyn Tiffany,
The Atlantic,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The party was held two floors above the Ike Johnson suite, which is named for the former Southern Turf manager who took his life in the building in 1916, apparently despondent at the prospect of moving.—
Keith Sharon,
Nashville Tennessean,
7 Oct. 2025
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Michael Cole was despondent during his distant commentary of the women’s WWE Tag Team Championship match.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
20 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Actually, more than mad, the guy is heartbroken.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
15 Oct. 2025
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Among those heartbroken fans was DJ Premier, who was one of the first people to comment on his passing.—
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady,
Billboard,
14 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperate. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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