Synonyms of desperation

desperation

noun

ˌde-spə-ˈrā-shən 

as in despair

utter loss of hope

during the famine her desperation drove her to do things she wouldn't have normally considered

Synonyms & Similar Words

• despair
• sadness
• hopelessness
• sorrow
• depression
• melancholy
• agony
• misery
• despondence
• despondency
• forlornness
• oppression
• resignation
• slough of despond
• pain
• distress
• unhappiness
• sorrowfulness
• dejection
• gloom
• despond
• acceptance
• mournfulness
• joylessness
• self-pity
• gloominess
• dreariness
• blues
• dumps
• cynicism
• desolation
• pessimism
• blue devils
• doldrums
• dolor
• wretchedness
• woe
• mopes
• downheartedness
• self-despair
• dispiritedness
• disconsolateness
• woefulness
• dolefulness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• hope
• hopefulness
• optimism
• cheerfulness
• cheer
• mirth
• glee
• joy
• gayety
• elation
• ecstasy
• merriment
• exuberance
• gaiety
• joviality
• happiness
• sunniness
• euphoria
• jollity
• exultation
• exhilaration
• lightheartedness
• jubilation
• bliss
• rapture
• joyousness
• joyfulness
• gladness
• gleefulness
• mirthfulness
• blissfulness
• elatedness
• rapturousness

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of desperation

Two days off after Sunday likely factored in as well as the desperation to return to winning ways. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024

Both projects share a similar eye for the grotesquerie of the banal, with a generally condescending perspective toward rural desperation. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Dec. 2024

With a Thorpe Award Trophy snub fresh on his mind, and on the mind of coach Deion Sanders, No. 12’s pick came 1:45 into the game, on a desperation third-and-18 heave into triple coverage by Cowboys signal-caller Maealiuaki Smith. —Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 29 Nov. 2024

Yet the mass of people chooses lives of quiet or flamboyant desperation hoping to find meaning in orgies of hormonal gratifications. —Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 1 Dec. 2024