as in hopeless
feeling or showing no hope
desperate cancer patients who are vulnerable to the claims of unscrupulous quacks
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of desperate
Trump is going to need a respected judiciary on his side in future cases, and the Supreme Court has been in desperate need of some victories of its own in the court of public opinion.
—
David Pozen, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
Wading the streets was a task for only the bravest or the most desperate.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into its fourth, desperate week, her family has offered up to a million dollars for information leading to her return.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 25 Feb. 2026
Carrie, desperate for closure after a year of mourning the death of her husband, John, aka Big, jets to the City of Love for healing.
—Annabelle Gurwitch, HollywoodReporter, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for desperate
David Pozen, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
Wading the streets was a task for only the bravest or the most desperate.
—Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026
As the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into its fourth, desperate week, her family has offered up to a million dollars for information leading to her return.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN Money, 25 Feb. 2026
Carrie, desperate for closure after a year of mourning the death of her husband, John, aka Big, jets to the City of Love for healing.
—Annabelle Gurwitch, HollywoodReporter, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperate
Adjective
-
In a more simplistic story, Derya and Aziz’s efforts to find a good private school for their daughter would come off as a hopeless bourgeois indulgence.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The result has been a bloodbath in the state of Sinaloa, with thousands killed, thousands more missing and the violence reaching such heights that the Mexican government looks hopeless, if not hapless.—
Daniel DePetris,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
With price pressures still bubbling in ways that have made consumers unhappy about affordability, economists are closely monitoring the impact of higher energy prices.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
2 Mar. 2026
-
Unions, which were unhappy with the prospect of any industry consolidation may give Paramount a hard time and may not want to play ball.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Mendy Rendler, a longtime congregant, described the scene as a sad reminder that the congregation is displaced and not allowed to make repairs.—
Hannah Kliger,
CBS News,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Oooooofff, that is sad, my heart is breaking!—
Christina Grace Tucker,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The room is jam packed with more than 400 people and dozens are left milling around outside, disappointed.—
Mattha Busby,
Rolling Stone,
1 Mar. 2026
-
Although the company’s profit nearly doubled in the fourth quarter and sales reached an all-time high, Wall Street seemed disappointed by its somewhat lackluster outlook.—
Auzinea Bacon,
CNN Money,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But none of them have felt as bleak or despairing as Israeli director Anat Even’s scathing cinematic essay, Collapse (Effondrement).—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Feb. 2026
-
The ball dipped and swerved, beating the despairing dive of goalkeeper David Raya before flying in off the post.—
Jay Harris,
New York Times,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Craig Robinson is Reggie’s nemesis, as the aforementioned Jerry Basmati, a rival player (and cynical Christian), who inherited the post-gridiron media career Reggie imagined for himself.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
-
To some leaders of the Council, President Harry Truman’s early recognition of the Jewish state in 1948 was not a great human-rights advance but a cynical gambit to pander to a bloc of voters and improve his chance of being reëlected in 1948.—
Nicholas Lemann,
New Yorker,
21 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
In 2021, Talarico grew despondent.—
Tad Friend,
New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2026
-
The despondent faces and the screaming, wailing and pleading from these men, women and children – reportedly as young as 5 years old – will forever haunt me.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
That title follows the tragic story of British teenager Molly Russell, who was driven by social media to take her own life in 2017, and her heartbroken father’s quest to uncover the truth behind her death.—
Diana Lodderhose,
Deadline,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Savannah Guthrie and her heartbroken family are now offering a $1 million reward in hopes of receiving information about the whereabouts of their mother, Nancy Guthrie, who went missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home nearly a month ago.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
24 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperate. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
