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
After working as a critic for various publications in the UK for over a decade, I was haunted by the desperate look in the eyes of the hundreds of performers I’d been sent to review, a look that fell somewhere between pleading and confrontational.
—
Charlotte Runcie
july 10, Literary Hub, 10 July 2025
The more desperate the population, the more valuable the aid becomes to local power brokers.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
Mac's deeply closeted, Catholic-guilty homosexuality had been treated as a joke throughout the show's run, with the joke never truly being about Mac being gay, but about how his desperate repression had twisted him into a caricature of grasping masculinity.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 10 July 2025
The leaders of both are desperate to find a ‘solution’ to the issue, in order to ward off the electoral challenges from right-wing parties such as Reform U.K. and France’s National Rally.
—Frey Lindsay, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Charlotte Runcie
july 10, Literary Hub, 10 July 2025
The more desperate the population, the more valuable the aid becomes to local power brokers.
—Nicholas Creel, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 July 2025
Mac's deeply closeted, Catholic-guilty homosexuality had been treated as a joke throughout the show's run, with the joke never truly being about Mac being gay, but about how his desperate repression had twisted him into a caricature of grasping masculinity.
—Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 10 July 2025
The leaders of both are desperate to find a ‘solution’ to the issue, in order to ward off the electoral challenges from right-wing parties such as Reform U.K. and France’s National Rally.
—Frey Lindsay, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperate
Adjective
-
In a time when the suffering and seemingly hopeless prospects of America’s poor are known to all who have eyes to see, the only fig leaf available to hide the obscenity of this bill is the old partisan charge of waste, fraud and abuse.—
Clarence Page,
Chicago Tribune,
6 July 2025
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Valentine, Texas, stamps 10,000+ love letters each year For more than three decades, the small-town Valentine Post Office — also known as the Love Station — has processed thousands of love letters from hopeless romantics around the world.—
Brandi D. Addison,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 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
-
That's the sad reality facing many dogs in the wider shelter system.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 July 2025
-
Sinner plowed through an ailing Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, in a match that could serve as a sad, unfortunate coda to one of the most remarkable grass careers in tennis history.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
Gale would be profoundly disappointed to see that, a century after this essay, the US government seems intent on going backwards rather than forwards.—
Deborah Williams
July 14,
Literary Hub,
14 July 2025
-
George is disappointed that Hector does not seem to give one single fig about Gladys and doesn’t change his offer.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
7 July 2025
Adjective
-
People are despairing over the Supreme Court and its deference to the president.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
4 July 2025
-
Alcaraz swung slice serves past a despairing Lehečka’s forehand, while the Czech’s deliveries leapt up off the grass, contorting Alcaraz into uncomfortable return positions.—
James Hansen,
New York Times,
22 June 2025
Adjective
-
The cynical view would be that Trump is looking for a reason to have federal troops join ICE in rounding up undocumented immigrants that Mamdani tries to protect, and to arrest local officials who get in their way.—
Anna Commander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
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There is a certain business logic to that; from a cynical perspective, if a £10million investment fails to live up to expectations, the financial downside for the buying club is relatively small — and in many cases, he will be sold to somewhere lower down the sport’s food chain.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
In May 2023, Kesha released Gag Order, a dark, despondent exploration of her trauma, with minimalist production from Rick Rubin and the image of the pop star with a blast bag over her head as its album artwork.—
Jason Lipshutz,
Billboard,
3 July 2025
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Authorities say on June 17, Faye fired his handgun inside the Morgan Hill home of an ex-girlfriend, while reportedly despondent about his misdemeanor child abuse arrest two days earlier in Monterey.—
Robert Salonga,
Mercury News,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
Raymond Cheadle, Honesty’s great-uncle, told WUSA the family, including the girl’s dad, is heartbroken.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
-
Pepe has the power to make two heartbroken Islanders immediately forget about their old connections.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desperate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperate. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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