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
This is the case of a desperate suburb looking to create activity around a neighborhood that was dead.
—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026
Pakistan was in desperate need of a reputational rehabilitation.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 3 June 2026
Similarly, Enzo Fernandez has also been left off the ‘definitely not for sale list’, albeit Chelsea are not desperate to cash in either.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 2 June 2026
In O’Farrell’s work, a woman in a coma might possess startling awareness of her own mind; two strangers might forge a near-psychic mutual understanding; a child desperate to save his twin sister might trick death.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026
Pakistan was in desperate need of a reputational rehabilitation.
—Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 3 June 2026
Similarly, Enzo Fernandez has also been left off the ‘definitely not for sale list’, albeit Chelsea are not desperate to cash in either.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 2 June 2026
In O’Farrell’s work, a woman in a coma might possess startling awareness of her own mind; two strangers might forge a near-psychic mutual understanding; a child desperate to save his twin sister might trick death.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, Vulture, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperate
Adjective
-
At least Duncan’s daughter and fellow cadet, Teela (Eire Farrell), takes pity on the hopeless tyke.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
4 June 2026
-
Hence the constant reports that young people are anxious, lonely, stressed, hopeless.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
27 May 2026
Adjective
-
What’s leaving one unhappy child at home compared to sending five hundred people home from the theatre happy?—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
-
Shohei Ohtani almost became the most unhappy pitcher to ever be part of throwing a no-hitter.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
The other six ascended to the highest office in the land as a result of the dysfunction that has made Peru a punch line in political-science circles, a sad story of ungovernability played on a loop.—
Daniel Alarcón,
New Yorker,
4 June 2026
-
There’s a one-note quality to the film’s comedy that grows steadily, even deliberately, more abrasive over two hours, but the sad, brash, gradually shrinking bigness of the personalities at its center holds your attention.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
4 June 2026
Adjective
-
The event was so controlled that security blocked our phone cameras to stop unauthorized pictures of the 550,000-euro EV, which so disappointed investors that the company's stock fell 8% the next day.—
Charlotte Reed,
CNBC,
29 May 2026
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Tickets sell out weeks in advance during busy periods, leaving visitors who hoped to decide on arrival disappointed.—
David Nikel,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2026
Adjective
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But the award has to go to Matheus Cunha’s long-range dagger — a dramatic late winner curled past Gabriel’s desperate lunge and David Raya’s despairing dive into the bottom corner — to set the away crowd into rapturous applause.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
26 May 2026
-
Still, Ohm is more despairing and miserable than any of the wretched worms Scott has acted to date.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
To start the second half, Australia captain Henry Hutchison made a try-saving tackle on Tristan Leyds, who was then sin-binned for a cynical foul.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 May 2026
-
His social commentary reflected disgust with the unfettered capitalism of the Gilded Age, and his cynical aphorisms became widely quoted.—
Peter Hessler,
New Yorker,
31 May 2026
Adjective
-
People might become despondent that AI is ultimately going to be our end.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2026
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At 11, despondent over the course of her young life, Cox attempted suicide by swallowing all of her mother’s pills.—
Lizzie Hyman,
PEOPLE,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Ali later finds her, a moment that leaves him completely heartbroken, before testing the drugs and confirming they were laced with fentanyl.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
1 June 2026
-
Horace leaves Hollywood and a heartbroken but determined Aaron behind.—
Meredith Maran,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperate. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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