desperation
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the state of having no hope and feeling that a situation is impossible to fix.
a psychological state of utter hopelessness or despair; the condition of being desperate.
Simple“He looked around the empty room in total desperation, not knowing where to go next.”
In context“The refugees lived in a state of constant desperation, unsure if the next shipment of medical supplies would arrive before the winter set in.”
UsageOften used with the preposition 'in' to describe a person's state.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
a feeling of being so worried or upset that you do something dangerous or extreme.
a state of extreme urgency or anxiety that drives one to take reckless or unconventional risks.
Simple“In a moment of desperation, she sold her car to pay for her rent.”
In context“The company's decision to merge with its largest rival was seen by many analysts as a final act of desperation to avoid total bankruptcy.”
UsageOften appears in the phrase 'an act of desperation'.
Synonyms
“But in their desperation to pour forward, the Reds left themselves wide open to the counterattack.”
From Middle English desperacion, desperacioun, desperation, disparacion, disperacion, disperacioun, dispiracioune, dysperacioun, from Middle French desperation and its etymon Latin dēspērātiō, dēspērātiōnis. By surface analysis, desperate + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.