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
Clearly, the games will never end because people will always be desperate to win money.
—
EW.com, 27 June 2025
On the streets of L.A., Blanchett’s character was dressed in the Recruiter’s familiar suit and packed an equally mean wind-up slap, this time across the face of a desperate American who no doubt is being recruited for the deadly Games.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025
Sonny’s last shot for FI success comes courtesy of dapper ex-teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the desperate owner of a basement-dwelling team destined to be sold off.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
Someone who's absolutely desperate, just seeing that there's no other choice.
—Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
EW.com, 27 June 2025
On the streets of L.A., Blanchett’s character was dressed in the Recruiter’s familiar suit and packed an equally mean wind-up slap, this time across the face of a desperate American who no doubt is being recruited for the deadly Games.
—Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 27 June 2025
Sonny’s last shot for FI success comes courtesy of dapper ex-teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the desperate owner of a basement-dwelling team destined to be sold off.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
Someone who's absolutely desperate, just seeing that there's no other choice.
—Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperate
Adjective
-
Those who are convinced they’re trapped stay helpless and hopeless.—
Amy Morin,
CNBC,
12 June 2025
-
In a world where the powerful increasingly act with impunity, taking fictional villains to task makes sense, a form of Hollywood wish fulfillment for those who feel stuck or hopeless.—
Whitney Friedlander,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2025
Adjective
-
This gives the creditor an additional target to pursue and make very unhappy which can indirectly put pressure on the debtor to pay the judgment.—
Jay Adkisson,
Forbes.com,
2 July 2025
-
Circulation increased and the publication won two Pulitzer Prizes, but the owner, conservative Harry Guggenheim, was unhappy with the paper’s shift to the left, and he and Moyers were divided over the Vietnam War and the 1968 presidential election.—
Carmel Dagan,
Variety,
26 June 2025
Adjective
-
Too much alcohol and your dreamy dessert turns into a sad, semi-frozen slush.—
Emily Price,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
-
All three movies are packed with dinosaurs—dinosaurs running, dinosaurs being sad and winsome, dinosaurs showing ruthless disregard for human life.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
30 June 2025
Adjective
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The news came just months after trading away star forward Luka Doncic last season, leaving many fans feeling disappointed in the team and its front office.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
25 June 2025
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Paychex — Shares slid more than 9% after the payroll services company's latest quarterly results disappointed investors.—
Fred Imbert,
CNBC,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
The arc of the subject’s life is evoked through steadily darkening, tightening mood, with certain scenes and setups replicated to variously despairing effect, from tacitly shifting points of view.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
28 May 2025
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That same investigation may find the veteran was despairing, had just gone through a divorce or something along those lines.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
Too often, leaders are stuck between moral maximalism and cynical cost-cutting.—
HEC Paris Insights,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
-
Mamdani proposes to pay for these splendid gifts to the city’s voters by raising taxes even further on the city’s top income earners, in the cynical belief that those who make up his tax base are stuck there, cannot flee, and are thus cows to be helplessly milked.—
The Editors,
National Review,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
On crutches, all Haliburton could do after the game was greet his despondent teammates in a Paycomm Center hallway.—
Sean Gregory,
Time,
23 June 2025
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Just the kind of leadership despondent Democrats need.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Los Angeles Times,
22 June 2025
Adjective
-
Once the game is over, pink soldiers approach Yong-sik to shoot him and ensure that he’s eliminated, despite Geum-ja’s heartbroken pleas.—
Jennifer Zhan,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
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And before long, his pig is stolen, leaving him heartbroken.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperate. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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