desperate

desperate is a 9-letter English word with 12 senses as adjective and noun in the JumbleFix dictionary. One common meaning is: Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. Face value is 12 in Scrabble and 13 in Words With Friends. Use the entries below when you need a playable sense, a nearby word, or another arrangement of the same letters.

9 letters · Scrabble 12 · Words With Friends 13 · 12 senses

Definitions

1. adjective. Without hope; given to despair; hopeless.
2. adjective. Beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or, at least, extremely dangerous; as, a desperate disease; desperate fortune.
3. adjective. Proceeding from, or suggested by, despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as, a desperate effort.
4. adjective. Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality.
5. noun. One desperate or hopeless.
6. noun. a person who is frightened and in need of help

   "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"

7. adjective. showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort- G.C.Marshall

   "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"

   Synonyms: heroic

8. adjective. fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless- G.C.Marshall

   "a desperate illness"

   "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"

   Synonyms: dire

9. adjective. showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire

   "felt a desperate urge to confess"

   "a desperate need for recognition"

10. adjective. 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"

    Synonyms: despairing

11. adjective. desperately determined

    "do-or-die revolutionaries"

    "a do-or-die conflict"

12. adjective. (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair

    "a desperate criminal"

    "taken hostage of desperate men"

Synonyms

heroic, dire, despairing

Anagrams

Other playable words that use exactly the letters in desperate:

departees

Common word forms

desperately, desperateness

Words from these letters

If you are holding these tiles, the unscrambler for DESPERATE lists every valid word you can make from the same letters, including shorter plays.