Definition of desperate in English:

desperate

adjective ˈdɛsp(ə)rətˈdɛsp(ə)rət

1Feeling or showing a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with.
绝望的；无望的
a desperate sadness enveloped Ruth
露丝沉浸在绝望的悲哀中。
Example sentencesExamples
- Paradoxically, the political situation is so desperate, so apparently hopeless, that everyone understands the responsibility of casting their vote.
- Their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, with deep depression and anguish.
- He nodded eagerly, sensing my desperate tone in my voice.
- There is no sense of self-pity or desperate longing for the outside world, tempting as that must be.
- She is reading and her eerie tranquility hides a desperate sadness.
- Racing back to where he had begun digging, he kneeled next to the hole and began scooping out dirt with his bare hands, too desperate to deal with the hassle of a shovel.
- I sudden felt a desperate sadness that someday she would not be there, or I would not be there for her.
- There are millions just like them, inhabiting the depths of poverty and hopelessness, suicidal and desperate.
- Because of the growing link between education and income, the least educated are living increasingly desperate and hopeless lives.
- Obviously this risks failure to treat in situations that are desperate but not hopeless.
- The money does not exist, in the form of money-capital, to bring these economies out of this desperate, hopeless state.
- And a lonely woman longs to have a reason for her sadness beyond her desperate awareness of her own worthlessness.
- He looked around, at his sleeping, praying, card-playing colleagues, and he felt a desperate sense of weight across his shoulders.
- He had clung to it when times seemed desperate and hopeless, but he had refused to think he and his sisters deserved what they got.
- The school appears without life - a place where one feels a desperate sense of loss.
- Trying to live up to the impossible hype, the desperate clamour.
- I had to juggle my exterior apparent happiness and my inner desperate sense of worthlessness.
- She was almost choking on a desperate sense of panic that she couldn't quite explain.
- In contrast, private efforts offer a small start to deal with desperate poverty.
- We may feel hopeless or fearful or desperate and still we have to go on.
Synonyms
despairing, hopeless
anguished, distressed, in despair, suicidal
miserable, wretched, desolate
forlorn, disheartened, discouraged, demoralized, devastated, downcast, resigned, defeatist, pessimistic
distraught, fraught, overcome, out of one's mind, at one's wits' end, beside oneself, at the end of one's tether
literary dolorous
1. 1.1 (of an act) tried in despair or when everything else has failed.
  （行动，努力）孤注一掷的；极少成功希望的
  drugs used in a desperate attempt to save his life
  为了救活他，被孤注一掷地使用的药品。
  Example sentencesExamples
  Deportation detainees frequently resort to desperate acts to protest their imprisonment.
  The ship was breaking up and the last survivors were making rafts in desperate attempts to save their lives.
  Because of this realism, though, the final desperate act of the movie is unlikely.
  The post operator admitted there would be closures in a desperate bid to deal with the financial crisis gripping the company, but said they would not be on the scale that had been claimed.
  Try comprehending the situation that would drive someone to this sort of desperate act.
  In fact, it is an account of a desperate, doomed attempt to transcend meaninglessness.
  This is all preamble to the final desperate act staged by John and the guards and carried out with great danger and difficulty.
  Charles took this desperate act in an attempt to reinforce his position in Germany.
  But that doesn't disguise the reality that they are scraping the barrel in a desperate attempt to save a dying industry.
  It was the desperate act of a disgruntled former city employee who was refused his old job back.
  Finally, a desperate act of blind revenge led him to the scaffold.
  They gave their lives in a desperate attempt to save others.
  It was a desperate attempt to save his marriage, which was on the verge of breaking up.
  When farming was invented 10,000 years ago, was it a desperate measure to deal with environmental crisis?
  We search the poems as if they are cryptic clues to some hidden meaning that might explain the desperate act.
  It is the desperate act of a person who is in deep mental anguish.
  In a last, desperate act to save himself, James looked at his watch and pretended to be shocked.
  Ignored or abused by alcoholic parents, his desperate acts were the only way he could elicit any show of concern from them.
  With such a tiny enrolment, online education was a desperate act to keep the course viable.
  A career woman was today in prison after swindling more than £230,000 out of her employer in a desperate attempt to save her marriage.
  Synonyms
  last-ditch, last-chance, last-resort, last-minute, last-gasp, eleventh-hour, all-out, do-or-die, final
  frantic, frenzied, wild, straining
  futile, hopeless, doomed, lost
2. 1.2 (of a situation) extremely serious or dangerous.
  （情况）极端恶劣的，严重的；危急的
  there is a desperate shortage of teachers
  教师极度缺乏。
  Example sentencesExamples
  The result is a country - and continent - in desperate need of alternative transportation.
  With more than 190,000 children already malnourished, and many more at risk, the circumstances are increasingly desperate.
  Thousands of people could suffer because a desperate shortage of doctors is threatening the future of two city surgeries.
  The 20-year-old student was seriously ill and the situation was desperate.
  ‘No-one would leave their house and family if they were not in a desperate situation, in danger of their life,’ he says.
  Private firms are cashing in on the desperate shortage of school teachers.
  Having said all this, what should be clear is that the pedagogy of teaching creative writing is in desperate need of critical attention.
  The latter was a major concession given the country's dire economic straits and desperate shortage of electricity.
  Rapid changes in hospital designs, coupled with a desperate shortage, meant that hospitals were a promising field of specialisation for architects.
  There is a certain kind of quick courage that farmers - still the backbone of our wealth - have always shown in sudden desperate circumstance.
  We are now in a desperate situation and require urgent action.
  I didn't think it was necessarily a bad idea in the desperate circumstances, but they eventually decided against it.
  Today, there are few hospitals, a desperate shortage of medical supplies, and a massive health crisis.
  Well Lane was the most dangerous, and was an extremely fast road in desperate need of a pedestrian crossing, she said.
  A £2.3m injection of government cash and worldwide recruitment trawls failed to resolve the desperate shortage of staff.
  In its defence, the police service would argue a history of underfunding has led to a desperate shortage of officers across the board.
  In London, the housing crisis is very acute, there is a desperate shortage of social housing and with house prices so unreachable for the majority, few people are able to buy.
  Accident victims are being rushed between hospitals or left on trolleys for hours because of a desperate shortage of beds and staff.
  Developers have been quick to realise the desperate shortage of quality apartments in the city centre and are keen to make the most of the opportunity.
  But the system within which those teachers are working is in desperate need of reform, in many ways, and at many levels.
  Synonyms
  grave, serious, dangerous, risky, perilous, hazardous, precarious, critical, acute
  dire, very bad, calamitous, appalling, awful, terrible, frightful, dreadful, outrageous, intolerable, deplorable, lamentable, sorry, poor
  hopeless, irretrievable
  informal lousy, chronic
  archaic or humorous parlous
  urgent, pressing, compelling, crying
  acute, critical, crucial, vital, drastic, serious, grave, dire, extreme, great
  formal exigent
3. 1.3 (of a person) violent or dangerous.
  （人，打斗）暴力的；危险的
  a desperate criminal
  穷凶极恶的罪犯。
  Example sentencesExamples
  And it's blowing the lid off of everything that experts believe about the most desperate and dangerous people on earth.
  The townsfolk were reluctant to pursue them, for they were ill-equipped to chase well-armed and desperate outlaws into the wild, isolated regions where the criminals knew every trail and hiding place.
  Some type of containment is a must in order to capture the most dangerous and desperate criminal we face in law enforcement.
  The Narcotics Branch arrested a desperate criminal.
  In the Wild West, no single lawman could possibly stop a gang of desperate outlaws.
  The only person that would commit such a deed would be a desperate criminal, accustomed to a life of outlawry.
  Now suppose there is a desperate bandit lurking in the fields and one thousand men set out in pursuit of him.
  Synonyms
  violent, dangerous, lawless
  reckless, rash, hasty, impetuous, foolhardy, incautious
  death-or-glory, do-or-die, hazardous, risky
4. 1.4Irish informal Very bad.
  〈爱尔兰，非正式〉极差的；极坏的
  that beer's desperate—it's a wonder you've the nerve to offer it for sale
  这啤酒太差劲了——你们竟然还敢拿出来出售。
  Example sentencesExamples
  As usual in February the weather was desperate with a blizzard and white out conditions as we arrived at car park.
  The weather was desperate - 10 degrees and savagely wet but we still loved every minute, and I think that speaks volumes for this place.
  Synonyms
  awful, terrible, appalling, abysmal, very bad, atrocious, unspeakable, frightful, miserable
2predicative (of a person) having a great need or desire for something.
（人）极需某物的；极想要某物的
I am desperate for a cigarette
我极想抽一支烟。
with infinitive other women are desperate to get back to work
其他妇女都渴望恢复工作。
Example sentencesExamples
- They were desperate for somebody to do something.
- That they're so desperate for such basic items leaves little doubt about how much longer this aid effort is going to have to be maintained.
- And we are desperate for more contacts in the UK and abroad.
- As you can probably tell from the nature of my posts, I didn't really start this off with any kind of plan and now I'm pretty desperate for topics to talk about.
- She's desperate for ice cream, or anything else to eat, tormented by a constant hunger that never, ever goes away.
- The bear meat had run out, and she was desperate for more.
- I was so desperate for the object of my craving that I almost blurted out, ‘Are you going to buy that?’
- ‘They were so desperate for the warmth of a human being,’ she said.
- We are desperate for any offers of support at this stage because we are starting from scratch.
- ‘We are desperate for people to acknowledge that the council is looking at a city-wide strategy,’ he adds.
- I was desperate for some escape from the loneliness and from my own violent mood swings, but I was also determined to finish out the semester.
- ‘We are desperate for community facilities in the area and here we have something that works, so we should just leave it alone,’ he told the meeting.
- We are desperate for people to come and help us to keep the group running.
- Looking at him, with his horrific face and reedy, boyish voice, I understood that he was just desperate for some sort of acceptance and credibility.
- You know those days when you are just desperate for someone to see things they way you do, to feel the things you feel, to cry over a stupid story, you ache to feel a connection with someone, anyone.
- They don't know this man, yet, they are so desperate for a human connection, to find that partner, they'll convince themselves this is the guy.
- The good thing is that some of the supermarkets sell really cheap jeans and trousers which is what we are desperate for.
- But we are desperate for more men and women to join us.
- It is not a matter of being too proud to accept somebody else's ideas; frankly, we are desperate for them, because there are some problems we simply do not know the answers to.
- We are still desperate for a midfield enforcer.
Synonyms
in great need of, urgently requiring, craving, in want of, lacking, wanting
eager, aching, longing, yearning, hungry, thirsty, thirsting, itching, crying out, desirous
informal dying

Phrases

desperate diseases must have desperate remedies

proverb Extreme measures are justified as a response to a difficult or dangerous situation.
〈谚〉重症还得猛药治；对困难或危险的处境可以采取极端的措施
she resorted to even more desperate remedies

Derivatives

desperateness

nounˈdɛsp(ə)rətnəsˈdɛsp(ə)rətnəs

She showed the desperateness of suffering, a woman's incredible patience with injustice and finally, a lowbrow grace that is not common in a world filled with pretensions.
Example sentencesExamples
- Sally begged and there was desperateness in her tone.
- And then we looked at each other for just a moment, one still moment, before the desperateness took over and we were clinging to each other as tightly as we dared.
- Frustration and desperateness filled his eyes and he fell back onto the pillow, looking more desperate then ever.
- She looked at him, a hint of desperateness in her eyes.

Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense 'in despair'): from Latin desperatus 'deprived of hope', past participle of desperare (see despair).

Definition of desperate in US English:

desperate

adjectiveˈdesp(ə)rətˈdɛsp(ə)rət

1Feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with.
绝望的；无望的
a desperate sadness enveloped Ruth
露丝沉浸在绝望的悲哀中。
Example sentencesExamples
- The money does not exist, in the form of money-capital, to bring these economies out of this desperate, hopeless state.
- There are millions just like them, inhabiting the depths of poverty and hopelessness, suicidal and desperate.
- The school appears without life - a place where one feels a desperate sense of loss.
- We may feel hopeless or fearful or desperate and still we have to go on.
- Their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, with deep depression and anguish.
- He nodded eagerly, sensing my desperate tone in my voice.
- He looked around, at his sleeping, praying, card-playing colleagues, and he felt a desperate sense of weight across his shoulders.
- Obviously this risks failure to treat in situations that are desperate but not hopeless.
- I had to juggle my exterior apparent happiness and my inner desperate sense of worthlessness.
- In contrast, private efforts offer a small start to deal with desperate poverty.
- He had clung to it when times seemed desperate and hopeless, but he had refused to think he and his sisters deserved what they got.
- Paradoxically, the political situation is so desperate, so apparently hopeless, that everyone understands the responsibility of casting their vote.
- She is reading and her eerie tranquility hides a desperate sadness.
- Trying to live up to the impossible hype, the desperate clamour.
- I sudden felt a desperate sadness that someday she would not be there, or I would not be there for her.
- She was almost choking on a desperate sense of panic that she couldn't quite explain.
- There is no sense of self-pity or desperate longing for the outside world, tempting as that must be.
- And a lonely woman longs to have a reason for her sadness beyond her desperate awareness of her own worthlessness.
- Because of the growing link between education and income, the least educated are living increasingly desperate and hopeless lives.
- Racing back to where he had begun digging, he kneeled next to the hole and began scooping out dirt with his bare hands, too desperate to deal with the hassle of a shovel.
Synonyms
despairing, hopeless
1. 1.1 (of an act or attempt) tried in despair or when everything else has failed; having little hope of success.
  （行动，努力）孤注一掷的；极少成功希望的
  drugs used in a desperate attempt to save his life
  为了救活他，被孤注一掷地使用的药品。
  Example sentencesExamples
  We search the poems as if they are cryptic clues to some hidden meaning that might explain the desperate act.
  The post operator admitted there would be closures in a desperate bid to deal with the financial crisis gripping the company, but said they would not be on the scale that had been claimed.
  Deportation detainees frequently resort to desperate acts to protest their imprisonment.
  Because of this realism, though, the final desperate act of the movie is unlikely.
  In fact, it is an account of a desperate, doomed attempt to transcend meaninglessness.
  Try comprehending the situation that would drive someone to this sort of desperate act.
  They gave their lives in a desperate attempt to save others.
  A career woman was today in prison after swindling more than £230,000 out of her employer in a desperate attempt to save her marriage.
  Charles took this desperate act in an attempt to reinforce his position in Germany.
  This is all preamble to the final desperate act staged by John and the guards and carried out with great danger and difficulty.
  When farming was invented 10,000 years ago, was it a desperate measure to deal with environmental crisis?
  But that doesn't disguise the reality that they are scraping the barrel in a desperate attempt to save a dying industry.
  With such a tiny enrolment, online education was a desperate act to keep the course viable.
  In a last, desperate act to save himself, James looked at his watch and pretended to be shocked.
  The ship was breaking up and the last survivors were making rafts in desperate attempts to save their lives.
  It was a desperate attempt to save his marriage, which was on the verge of breaking up.
  Finally, a desperate act of blind revenge led him to the scaffold.
  It is the desperate act of a person who is in deep mental anguish.
  It was the desperate act of a disgruntled former city employee who was refused his old job back.
  Ignored or abused by alcoholic parents, his desperate acts were the only way he could elicit any show of concern from them.
  Synonyms
  last-ditch, last-chance, last-resort, last-minute, last-gasp, eleventh-hour, all-out, do-or-die, final
2. 1.2 (of a situation) extremely bad, serious, or dangerous.
  （情况）极端恶劣的，严重的；危急的
  there is a desperate shortage of teachers
  教师极度缺乏。
  Example sentencesExamples
  A £2.3m injection of government cash and worldwide recruitment trawls failed to resolve the desperate shortage of staff.
  Well Lane was the most dangerous, and was an extremely fast road in desperate need of a pedestrian crossing, she said.
  Private firms are cashing in on the desperate shortage of school teachers.
  Thousands of people could suffer because a desperate shortage of doctors is threatening the future of two city surgeries.
  I didn't think it was necessarily a bad idea in the desperate circumstances, but they eventually decided against it.
  ‘No-one would leave their house and family if they were not in a desperate situation, in danger of their life,’ he says.
  Having said all this, what should be clear is that the pedagogy of teaching creative writing is in desperate need of critical attention.
  We are now in a desperate situation and require urgent action.
  Today, there are few hospitals, a desperate shortage of medical supplies, and a massive health crisis.
  In its defence, the police service would argue a history of underfunding has led to a desperate shortage of officers across the board.
  But the system within which those teachers are working is in desperate need of reform, in many ways, and at many levels.
  Accident victims are being rushed between hospitals or left on trolleys for hours because of a desperate shortage of beds and staff.
  With more than 190,000 children already malnourished, and many more at risk, the circumstances are increasingly desperate.
  The result is a country - and continent - in desperate need of alternative transportation.
  In London, the housing crisis is very acute, there is a desperate shortage of social housing and with house prices so unreachable for the majority, few people are able to buy.
  There is a certain kind of quick courage that farmers - still the backbone of our wealth - have always shown in sudden desperate circumstance.
  Rapid changes in hospital designs, coupled with a desperate shortage, meant that hospitals were a promising field of specialisation for architects.
  The latter was a major concession given the country's dire economic straits and desperate shortage of electricity.
  Developers have been quick to realise the desperate shortage of quality apartments in the city centre and are keen to make the most of the opportunity.
  The 20-year-old student was seriously ill and the situation was desperate.
  Synonyms
  grave, serious, dangerous, risky, perilous, hazardous, precarious, critical, acute
  urgent, pressing, compelling, crying
3. 1.3predicative (of a person) having a great need or desire for something.
  （人）极需某物的；极想要某物的
  I am desperate for a cigarette
  我极想抽一支烟。
  with infinitive the government is desperate to clean up Rio's streets
  Example sentencesExamples
  That they're so desperate for such basic items leaves little doubt about how much longer this aid effort is going to have to be maintained.
  And we are desperate for more contacts in the UK and abroad.
  I was so desperate for the object of my craving that I almost blurted out, ‘Are you going to buy that?’
  But we are desperate for more men and women to join us.
  They don't know this man, yet, they are so desperate for a human connection, to find that partner, they'll convince themselves this is the guy.
  ‘They were so desperate for the warmth of a human being,’ she said.
  I was desperate for some escape from the loneliness and from my own violent mood swings, but I was also determined to finish out the semester.
  She's desperate for ice cream, or anything else to eat, tormented by a constant hunger that never, ever goes away.
  You know those days when you are just desperate for someone to see things they way you do, to feel the things you feel, to cry over a stupid story, you ache to feel a connection with someone, anyone.
  We are still desperate for a midfield enforcer.
  As you can probably tell from the nature of my posts, I didn't really start this off with any kind of plan and now I'm pretty desperate for topics to talk about.
  We are desperate for any offers of support at this stage because we are starting from scratch.
  We are desperate for people to come and help us to keep the group running.
  They were desperate for somebody to do something.
  ‘We are desperate for community facilities in the area and here we have something that works, so we should just leave it alone,’ he told the meeting.
  The good thing is that some of the supermarkets sell really cheap jeans and trousers which is what we are desperate for.
  Looking at him, with his horrific face and reedy, boyish voice, I understood that he was just desperate for some sort of acceptance and credibility.
  ‘We are desperate for people to acknowledge that the council is looking at a city-wide strategy,’ he adds.
  The bear meat had run out, and she was desperate for more.
  It is not a matter of being too proud to accept somebody else's ideas; frankly, we are desperate for them, because there are some problems we simply do not know the answers to.
  Synonyms
  in great need of, urgently requiring, craving, in want of, lacking, wanting
4. 1.4 (of a person or fight) violent or dangerous.
  （人，打斗）暴力的；危险的
  a desperate criminal
  穷凶极恶的罪犯。
  a desperate struggle
  殊死斗争。
  Example sentencesExamples
  The Narcotics Branch arrested a desperate criminal.
  And it's blowing the lid off of everything that experts believe about the most desperate and dangerous people on earth.
  In the Wild West, no single lawman could possibly stop a gang of desperate outlaws.
  The townsfolk were reluctant to pursue them, for they were ill-equipped to chase well-armed and desperate outlaws into the wild, isolated regions where the criminals knew every trail and hiding place.
  Now suppose there is a desperate bandit lurking in the fields and one thousand men set out in pursuit of him.
  Some type of containment is a must in order to capture the most dangerous and desperate criminal we face in law enforcement.
  The only person that would commit such a deed would be a desperate criminal, accustomed to a life of outlawry.
  Synonyms
  violent, dangerous, lawless

Phrases

desperate diseases must have desperate remedies

proverb Extreme measures are justified as a response to a difficult or dangerous situation.
〈谚〉重症还得猛药治；对困难或危险的处境可以采取极端的措施

Origin

Late Middle English (in the sense ‘in despair’): from Latin desperatus ‘deprived of hope’, past participle of desperare (see despair).

单词	desperate
释义	Definition of desperate in English: desperate adjective ˈdɛsp(ə)rətˈdɛsp(ə)rət 1Feeling or showing a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with. 绝望的；无望的 a desperate sadness enveloped Ruth 露丝沉浸在绝望的悲哀中。 Example sentencesExamples Paradoxically, the political situation is so desperate, so apparently hopeless, that everyone understands the responsibility of casting their vote. Their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, with deep depression and anguish. He nodded eagerly, sensing my desperate tone in my voice. There is no sense of self-pity or desperate longing for the outside world, tempting as that must be. She is reading and her eerie tranquility hides a desperate sadness. Racing back to where he had begun digging, he kneeled next to the hole and began scooping out dirt with his bare hands, too desperate to deal with the hassle of a shovel. I sudden felt a desperate sadness that someday she would not be there, or I would not be there for her. There are millions just like them, inhabiting the depths of poverty and hopelessness, suicidal and desperate. Because of the growing link between education and income, the least educated are living increasingly desperate and hopeless lives. Obviously this risks failure to treat in situations that are desperate but not hopeless. The money does not exist, in the form of money-capital, to bring these economies out of this desperate, hopeless state. And a lonely woman longs to have a reason for her sadness beyond her desperate awareness of her own worthlessness. He looked around, at his sleeping, praying, card-playing colleagues, and he felt a desperate sense of weight across his shoulders. He had clung to it when times seemed desperate and hopeless, but he had refused to think he and his sisters deserved what they got. The school appears without life - a place where one feels a desperate sense of loss. Trying to live up to the impossible hype, the desperate clamour. I had to juggle my exterior apparent happiness and my inner desperate sense of worthlessness. She was almost choking on a desperate sense of panic that she couldn't quite explain. In contrast, private efforts offer a small start to deal with desperate poverty. We may feel hopeless or fearful or desperate and still we have to go on. Synonyms despairing, hopeless anguished, distressed, in despair, suicidal miserable, wretched, desolate forlorn, disheartened, discouraged, demoralized, devastated, downcast, resigned, defeatist, pessimistic distraught, fraught, overcome, out of one's mind, at one's wits' end, beside oneself, at the end of one's tether literary dolorous 1.1 (of an act) tried in despair or when everything else has failed. （行动，努力）孤注一掷的；极少成功希望的 drugs used in a desperate attempt to save his life 为了救活他，被孤注一掷地使用的药品。 Example sentencesExamples Deportation detainees frequently resort to desperate acts to protest their imprisonment. The ship was breaking up and the last survivors were making rafts in desperate attempts to save their lives. Because of this realism, though, the final desperate act of the movie is unlikely. The post operator admitted there would be closures in a desperate bid to deal with the financial crisis gripping the company, but said they would not be on the scale that had been claimed. Try comprehending the situation that would drive someone to this sort of desperate act. In fact, it is an account of a desperate, doomed attempt to transcend meaninglessness. This is all preamble to the final desperate act staged by John and the guards and carried out with great danger and difficulty. Charles took this desperate act in an attempt to reinforce his position in Germany. But that doesn't disguise the reality that they are scraping the barrel in a desperate attempt to save a dying industry. It was the desperate act of a disgruntled former city employee who was refused his old job back. Finally, a desperate act of blind revenge led him to the scaffold. They gave their lives in a desperate attempt to save others. It was a desperate attempt to save his marriage, which was on the verge of breaking up. When farming was invented 10,000 years ago, was it a desperate measure to deal with environmental crisis? We search the poems as if they are cryptic clues to some hidden meaning that might explain the desperate act. It is the desperate act of a person who is in deep mental anguish. In a last, desperate act to save himself, James looked at his watch and pretended to be shocked. Ignored or abused by alcoholic parents, his desperate acts were the only way he could elicit any show of concern from them. With such a tiny enrolment, online education was a desperate act to keep the course viable. A career woman was today in prison after swindling more than £230,000 out of her employer in a desperate attempt to save her marriage. Synonyms last-ditch, last-chance, last-resort, last-minute, last-gasp, eleventh-hour, all-out, do-or-die, final frantic, frenzied, wild, straining futile, hopeless, doomed, lost 1.2 (of a situation) extremely serious or dangerous. （情况）极端恶劣的，严重的；危急的 there is a desperate shortage of teachers 教师极度缺乏。 Example sentencesExamples The result is a country - and continent - in desperate need of alternative transportation. With more than 190,000 children already malnourished, and many more at risk, the circumstances are increasingly desperate. Thousands of people could suffer because a desperate shortage of doctors is threatening the future of two city surgeries. The 20-year-old student was seriously ill and the situation was desperate. ‘No-one would leave their house and family if they were not in a desperate situation, in danger of their life,’ he says. Private firms are cashing in on the desperate shortage of school teachers. Having said all this, what should be clear is that the pedagogy of teaching creative writing is in desperate need of critical attention. The latter was a major concession given the country's dire economic straits and desperate shortage of electricity. Rapid changes in hospital designs, coupled with a desperate shortage, meant that hospitals were a promising field of specialisation for architects. There is a certain kind of quick courage that farmers - still the backbone of our wealth - have always shown in sudden desperate circumstance. We are now in a desperate situation and require urgent action. I didn't think it was necessarily a bad idea in the desperate circumstances, but they eventually decided against it. Today, there are few hospitals, a desperate shortage of medical supplies, and a massive health crisis. Well Lane was the most dangerous, and was an extremely fast road in desperate need of a pedestrian crossing, she said. A £2.3m injection of government cash and worldwide recruitment trawls failed to resolve the desperate shortage of staff. In its defence, the police service would argue a history of underfunding has led to a desperate shortage of officers across the board. In London, the housing crisis is very acute, there is a desperate shortage of social housing and with house prices so unreachable for the majority, few people are able to buy. Accident victims are being rushed between hospitals or left on trolleys for hours because of a desperate shortage of beds and staff. Developers have been quick to realise the desperate shortage of quality apartments in the city centre and are keen to make the most of the opportunity. But the system within which those teachers are working is in desperate need of reform, in many ways, and at many levels. Synonyms grave, serious, dangerous, risky, perilous, hazardous, precarious, critical, acute dire, very bad, calamitous, appalling, awful, terrible, frightful, dreadful, outrageous, intolerable, deplorable, lamentable, sorry, poor hopeless, irretrievable informal lousy, chronic archaic or humorous parlous urgent, pressing, compelling, crying acute, critical, crucial, vital, drastic, serious, grave, dire, extreme, great formal exigent 1.3 (of a person) violent or dangerous. （人，打斗）暴力的；危险的 a desperate criminal 穷凶极恶的罪犯。 Example sentencesExamples And it's blowing the lid off of everything that experts believe about the most desperate and dangerous people on earth. The townsfolk were reluctant to pursue them, for they were ill-equipped to chase well-armed and desperate outlaws into the wild, isolated regions where the criminals knew every trail and hiding place. Some type of containment is a must in order to capture the most dangerous and desperate criminal we face in law enforcement. The Narcotics Branch arrested a desperate criminal. In the Wild West, no single lawman could possibly stop a gang of desperate outlaws. The only person that would commit such a deed would be a desperate criminal, accustomed to a life of outlawry. Now suppose there is a desperate bandit lurking in the fields and one thousand men set out in pursuit of him. Synonyms violent, dangerous, lawless reckless, rash, hasty, impetuous, foolhardy, incautious death-or-glory, do-or-die, hazardous, risky 1.4Irish informal Very bad. 〈爱尔兰，非正式〉极差的；极坏的 that beer's desperate—it's a wonder you've the nerve to offer it for sale 这啤酒太差劲了——你们竟然还敢拿出来出售。 Example sentencesExamples As usual in February the weather was desperate with a blizzard and white out conditions as we arrived at car park. The weather was desperate - 10 degrees and savagely wet but we still loved every minute, and I think that speaks volumes for this place. Synonyms awful, terrible, appalling, abysmal, very bad, atrocious, unspeakable, frightful, miserable 2predicative (of a person) having a great need or desire for something. （人）极需某物的；极想要某物的 I am desperate for a cigarette 我极想抽一支烟。 with infinitive other women are desperate to get back to work 其他妇女都渴望恢复工作。 Example sentencesExamples They were desperate for somebody to do something. That they're so desperate for such basic items leaves little doubt about how much longer this aid effort is going to have to be maintained. And we are desperate for more contacts in the UK and abroad. As you can probably tell from the nature of my posts, I didn't really start this off with any kind of plan and now I'm pretty desperate for topics to talk about. She's desperate for ice cream, or anything else to eat, tormented by a constant hunger that never, ever goes away. The bear meat had run out, and she was desperate for more. I was so desperate for the object of my craving that I almost blurted out, ‘Are you going to buy that?’ ‘They were so desperate for the warmth of a human being,’ she said. We are desperate for any offers of support at this stage because we are starting from scratch. ‘We are desperate for people to acknowledge that the council is looking at a city-wide strategy,’ he adds. I was desperate for some escape from the loneliness and from my own violent mood swings, but I was also determined to finish out the semester. ‘We are desperate for community facilities in the area and here we have something that works, so we should just leave it alone,’ he told the meeting. We are desperate for people to come and help us to keep the group running. Looking at him, with his horrific face and reedy, boyish voice, I understood that he was just desperate for some sort of acceptance and credibility. You know those days when you are just desperate for someone to see things they way you do, to feel the things you feel, to cry over a stupid story, you ache to feel a connection with someone, anyone. They don't know this man, yet, they are so desperate for a human connection, to find that partner, they'll convince themselves this is the guy. The good thing is that some of the supermarkets sell really cheap jeans and trousers which is what we are desperate for. But we are desperate for more men and women to join us. It is not a matter of being too proud to accept somebody else's ideas; frankly, we are desperate for them, because there are some problems we simply do not know the answers to. We are still desperate for a midfield enforcer. Synonyms in great need of, urgently requiring, craving, in want of, lacking, wanting eager, aching, longing, yearning, hungry, thirsty, thirsting, itching, crying out, desirous informal dying Phrases desperate diseases must have desperate remedies proverb Extreme measures are justified as a response to a difficult or dangerous situation. 〈谚〉重症还得猛药治；对困难或危险的处境可以采取极端的措施 she resorted to even more desperate remedies Derivatives desperateness nounˈdɛsp(ə)rətnəsˈdɛsp(ə)rətnəs She showed the desperateness of suffering, a woman's incredible patience with injustice and finally, a lowbrow grace that is not common in a world filled with pretensions. Example sentencesExamples Sally begged and there was desperateness in her tone. And then we looked at each other for just a moment, one still moment, before the desperateness took over and we were clinging to each other as tightly as we dared. Frustration and desperateness filled his eyes and he fell back onto the pillow, looking more desperate then ever. She looked at him, a hint of desperateness in her eyes. Origin Late Middle English (in the sense 'in despair'): from Latin desperatus 'deprived of hope', past participle of desperare (see despair). adj.1 phr. Definition of desperate in US English: desperate adjectiveˈdesp(ə)rətˈdɛsp(ə)rət 1Feeling, showing, or involving a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with. 绝望的；无望的 a desperate sadness enveloped Ruth 露丝沉浸在绝望的悲哀中。 Example sentencesExamples The money does not exist, in the form of money-capital, to bring these economies out of this desperate, hopeless state. There are millions just like them, inhabiting the depths of poverty and hopelessness, suicidal and desperate. The school appears without life - a place where one feels a desperate sense of loss. We may feel hopeless or fearful or desperate and still we have to go on. Their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, with deep depression and anguish. He nodded eagerly, sensing my desperate tone in my voice. He looked around, at his sleeping, praying, card-playing colleagues, and he felt a desperate sense of weight across his shoulders. Obviously this risks failure to treat in situations that are desperate but not hopeless. I had to juggle my exterior apparent happiness and my inner desperate sense of worthlessness. In contrast, private efforts offer a small start to deal with desperate poverty. He had clung to it when times seemed desperate and hopeless, but he had refused to think he and his sisters deserved what they got. Paradoxically, the political situation is so desperate, so apparently hopeless, that everyone understands the responsibility of casting their vote. She is reading and her eerie tranquility hides a desperate sadness. Trying to live up to the impossible hype, the desperate clamour. I sudden felt a desperate sadness that someday she would not be there, or I would not be there for her. She was almost choking on a desperate sense of panic that she couldn't quite explain. There is no sense of self-pity or desperate longing for the outside world, tempting as that must be. And a lonely woman longs to have a reason for her sadness beyond her desperate awareness of her own worthlessness. Because of the growing link between education and income, the least educated are living increasingly desperate and hopeless lives. Racing back to where he had begun digging, he kneeled next to the hole and began scooping out dirt with his bare hands, too desperate to deal with the hassle of a shovel. Synonyms despairing, hopeless 1.1 (of an act or attempt) tried in despair or when everything else has failed; having little hope of success. （行动，努力）孤注一掷的；极少成功希望的 drugs used in a desperate attempt to save his life 为了救活他，被孤注一掷地使用的药品。 Example sentencesExamples We search the poems as if they are cryptic clues to some hidden meaning that might explain the desperate act. The post operator admitted there would be closures in a desperate bid to deal with the financial crisis gripping the company, but said they would not be on the scale that had been claimed. Deportation detainees frequently resort to desperate acts to protest their imprisonment. Because of this realism, though, the final desperate act of the movie is unlikely. In fact, it is an account of a desperate, doomed attempt to transcend meaninglessness. Try comprehending the situation that would drive someone to this sort of desperate act. They gave their lives in a desperate attempt to save others. A career woman was today in prison after swindling more than £230,000 out of her employer in a desperate attempt to save her marriage. Charles took this desperate act in an attempt to reinforce his position in Germany. This is all preamble to the final desperate act staged by John and the guards and carried out with great danger and difficulty. When farming was invented 10,000 years ago, was it a desperate measure to deal with environmental crisis? But that doesn't disguise the reality that they are scraping the barrel in a desperate attempt to save a dying industry. With such a tiny enrolment, online education was a desperate act to keep the course viable. In a last, desperate act to save himself, James looked at his watch and pretended to be shocked. The ship was breaking up and the last survivors were making rafts in desperate attempts to save their lives. It was a desperate attempt to save his marriage, which was on the verge of breaking up. Finally, a desperate act of blind revenge led him to the scaffold. It is the desperate act of a person who is in deep mental anguish. It was the desperate act of a disgruntled former city employee who was refused his old job back. Ignored or abused by alcoholic parents, his desperate acts were the only way he could elicit any show of concern from them. Synonyms last-ditch, last-chance, last-resort, last-minute, last-gasp, eleventh-hour, all-out, do-or-die, final 1.2 (of a situation) extremely bad, serious, or dangerous. （情况）极端恶劣的，严重的；危急的 there is a desperate shortage of teachers 教师极度缺乏。 Example sentencesExamples A £2.3m injection of government cash and worldwide recruitment trawls failed to resolve the desperate shortage of staff. Well Lane was the most dangerous, and was an extremely fast road in desperate need of a pedestrian crossing, she said. Private firms are cashing in on the desperate shortage of school teachers. Thousands of people could suffer because a desperate shortage of doctors is threatening the future of two city surgeries. I didn't think it was necessarily a bad idea in the desperate circumstances, but they eventually decided against it. ‘No-one would leave their house and family if they were not in a desperate situation, in danger of their life,’ he says. Having said all this, what should be clear is that the pedagogy of teaching creative writing is in desperate need of critical attention. We are now in a desperate situation and require urgent action. Today, there are few hospitals, a desperate shortage of medical supplies, and a massive health crisis. In its defence, the police service would argue a history of underfunding has led to a desperate shortage of officers across the board. But the system within which those teachers are working is in desperate need of reform, in many ways, and at many levels. Accident victims are being rushed between hospitals or left on trolleys for hours because of a desperate shortage of beds and staff. With more than 190,000 children already malnourished, and many more at risk, the circumstances are increasingly desperate. The result is a country - and continent - in desperate need of alternative transportation. In London, the housing crisis is very acute, there is a desperate shortage of social housing and with house prices so unreachable for the majority, few people are able to buy. There is a certain kind of quick courage that farmers - still the backbone of our wealth - have always shown in sudden desperate circumstance. Rapid changes in hospital designs, coupled with a desperate shortage, meant that hospitals were a promising field of specialisation for architects. The latter was a major concession given the country's dire economic straits and desperate shortage of electricity. Developers have been quick to realise the desperate shortage of quality apartments in the city centre and are keen to make the most of the opportunity. The 20-year-old student was seriously ill and the situation was desperate. Synonyms grave, serious, dangerous, risky, perilous, hazardous, precarious, critical, acute urgent, pressing, compelling, crying 1.3predicative (of a person) having a great need or desire for something. （人）极需某物的；极想要某物的 I am desperate for a cigarette 我极想抽一支烟。 with infinitive the government is desperate to clean up Rio's streets Example sentencesExamples That they're so desperate for such basic items leaves little doubt about how much longer this aid effort is going to have to be maintained. And we are desperate for more contacts in the UK and abroad. I was so desperate for the object of my craving that I almost blurted out, ‘Are you going to buy that?’ But we are desperate for more men and women to join us. They don't know this man, yet, they are so desperate for a human connection, to find that partner, they'll convince themselves this is the guy. ‘They were so desperate for the warmth of a human being,’ she said. I was desperate for some escape from the loneliness and from my own violent mood swings, but I was also determined to finish out the semester. She's desperate for ice cream, or anything else to eat, tormented by a constant hunger that never, ever goes away. You know those days when you are just desperate for someone to see things they way you do, to feel the things you feel, to cry over a stupid story, you ache to feel a connection with someone, anyone. We are still desperate for a midfield enforcer. As you can probably tell from the nature of my posts, I didn't really start this off with any kind of plan and now I'm pretty desperate for topics to talk about. We are desperate for any offers of support at this stage because we are starting from scratch. We are desperate for people to come and help us to keep the group running. They were desperate for somebody to do something. ‘We are desperate for community facilities in the area and here we have something that works, so we should just leave it alone,’ he told the meeting. The good thing is that some of the supermarkets sell really cheap jeans and trousers which is what we are desperate for. Looking at him, with his horrific face and reedy, boyish voice, I understood that he was just desperate for some sort of acceptance and credibility. ‘We are desperate for people to acknowledge that the council is looking at a city-wide strategy,’ he adds. The bear meat had run out, and she was desperate for more. It is not a matter of being too proud to accept somebody else's ideas; frankly, we are desperate for them, because there are some problems we simply do not know the answers to. Synonyms in great need of, urgently requiring, craving, in want of, lacking, wanting 1.4 (of a person or fight) violent or dangerous. （人，打斗）暴力的；危险的 a desperate criminal 穷凶极恶的罪犯。 a desperate struggle 殊死斗争。 Example sentencesExamples The Narcotics Branch arrested a desperate criminal. And it's blowing the lid off of everything that experts believe about the most desperate and dangerous people on earth. In the Wild West, no single lawman could possibly stop a gang of desperate outlaws. The townsfolk were reluctant to pursue them, for they were ill-equipped to chase well-armed and desperate outlaws into the wild, isolated regions where the criminals knew every trail and hiding place. Now suppose there is a desperate bandit lurking in the fields and one thousand men set out in pursuit of him. Some type of containment is a must in order to capture the most dangerous and desperate criminal we face in law enforcement. The only person that would commit such a deed would be a desperate criminal, accustomed to a life of outlawry. Synonyms violent, dangerous, lawless Phrases desperate diseases must have desperate remedies proverb Extreme measures are justified as a response to a difficult or dangerous situation. 〈谚〉重症还得猛药治；对困难或危险的处境可以采取极端的措施 Origin Late Middle English (in the sense ‘in despair’): from Latin desperatus ‘deprived of hope’, past participle of desperare (see despair). adj.1 phr.
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