desperation

nounattested in dialogue

//ˌdɛspəˈɹeɪʃən//

The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.

noun

1
The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.
in desperation
utter desperation
2
A 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.
3
Reckless fury.
"The PM’s private reassurances are worthless given her track record of u-turns and her clear desperation to cling to power."
4
Variant of bladder desperationEllipsis of bladder desperation.

Etymology

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.

Forms

plural: desperations

despair · To cause to despair.desperate · In dire need (of something); having a dire need or desire.desperately · In a desperate manner; without regard to danger or safety;…

desperation · The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.

despicable · Fit or deserving to be despised; contemptible; mean.despise · To regard with contempt or scorn.despised · Hated; viewed with scorn.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.