Meanings
plural desperations
- countableuncountableThe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.
in desperation
1 more example
utter desperation
- countableuncountableA state of despair, or utter hopelessness; abandonment of hope.
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.
1854 August 9, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “Economy”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 10Synonyms: despair, despondency, despair, despond, despondency, hopelessness, unhope, wanhope
- countableuncountableReckless fury.
"The PM’s private reassurances are worthless given her track record of u-turns and her clear desperation to cling to power."
2017 June 11, “DUP leader hails 'good progress' with Theresa May”, in The Scotsman, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2025 - abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableBDSMEllipsis of bladder desperation.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA state of despair, or utter hopelessness; abandonment of hope.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindēspērātiō, dēspērātiōnis
- Middle Frenchdesperation
- Middle Englishdesperacion, desperacioun, desperation, disparacion, disperacion, disperacioun, dispiracioune, dysperacioun
- Englishdesperation
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.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian отча́яние, безнаде́ждност
- отча́яние (otčájanie)the act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- безнаде́ждност (beznadéždnost)a state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Catalan desesperació, desesperació
- desesperacióthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desesperacióa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Chinese Mandarin 絕望 /绝望, 絕望 /绝望
- 絕望 /绝望 (juéwàng)the act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- 絕望 /绝望 (juéwàng)a state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Danish desperation, desperation
- desperationthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desperationa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Finnish epätoivo, epätoivo
- epätoivothe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- epätoivoa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
French désespoir
- désespoirthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
German Verzweiflung, Verzweiflung
- Verzweiflungthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- Verzweiflunga state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Hebrew ייאוש
- ייאוש (ye'ush)a state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Hindi हताशा
- हताशा (hatāśā)the act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
Irish anbhá
- anbháa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Japanese 絶望
- 絶望 (zetsubō)the act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
Latin desperatio, desperatio
- desperatiothe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desperatioa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Māori kiriwera, kirimate
- kiriweraa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
- kirimatea state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Norwegian Bokmål desperasjon, desperasjon
- desperasjonthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desperasjona state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Portuguese desesperação, desespero
- desesperaçãothe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desesperoa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Romanian desperare, desperare
- desperarethe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desperarea state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Russian отча́яние, безнадёжность
- отча́яние (otčájanije)the act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- безнадёжность (beznadjóžnostʹ)a state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Scottish Gaelic èiginn
- èiginna state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Spanish desesperación, desesperación
- desesperaciónthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
- desesperacióna state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Swedish desperation
- desperationa state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Turkish umutsuzluk
- umutsuzluka state of despair, or utter hopelessness
Vietnamese sự tuyệt vọng
- sự tuyệt vọngthe act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with desperation
Anagrams
Cite this entry
desperation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desperation
“desperation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desperation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “desperation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desperation.
Source: desperation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.