Etymology

desperate

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Today it means: In dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire. Full definition →

Middle English desperat(e) ← Latin dēspērātus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromdēspērātus
  2. Middle English · inherited fromdesperat(e)“desperate”
  3. English todaydesperate

From Middle English desperat(e) (“desperate”), borrowed from Latin dēspērātus, perfect passive participle of dēspērō (“to be without hope”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). The noun is derived from the adjective or from the Latin source through substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.