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more about desperate
desperate |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Desperate \Des"per*ate\, n. One desperate or hopeless. [Obs.] From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Desperate \Des"per*ate\, a. [L. desperatus p. p. of desperare. See {Despair}, and cf {Desperado}.] 1. Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [Obs.] I am desperate of obtaining her --Shak. 2. Beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or at least, extremely dangerous; as a desperate disease; desperate fortune. 3. Proceeding from or suggested by despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as a desperate effort. ``Desperate expedients.'' --Macaulay. 4. Extreme, in a bad sense outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality. A desperate offendress against nature. --Shak. The most desperate of reprobates. --Macaulay. Syn: Hopeless; despairing; desponding; rash; headlong; precipitate; irretrievable; irrecoverable; forlorn; mad; furious; frantic. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: desperate adj 1: arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope; "a despairing view of the world situation"; "the last despairing plea of the condemned criminal"; "a desperate cry for help"; "helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether"; "her desperate screams" [syn: {despairing}] 2: desperately determined; "do-or-die revolutionaries"; "a do-or-die conflict" [syn: {do-or-die(a)}] 3: (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair; "a desperate criminal"; "taken hostage of desperate men" 4: showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort; "made a last desperate attempt to reach the climber"; "the desperate gallantry of our naval task forces marked the turning point in the Pacific war"- G.C.Marshall; "they took heroic measures to save his life" [syn: {heroic}] 5: showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire; "felt a desperate urge to confess"; "a desperate need for recognition" 6: fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"- G.C.Marshall; "a dire emergency" [syn: {dire}] n : a person who is frightened and in need of help; "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"
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