Hypertext Webster Gateway: "desperate"
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) 1.7 (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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