noun
desperation
des-puh-RAY-shun/ˌdespəˈreɪʃn/
A state of distress that makes people feel they must do anything to escape it.
In desperation, she tries another key as the water approaches the locked door.
Etymology
The pieces name a state of being without hope. That original hopelessness remains central to the modern sense: distress or urgency felt when there seems little prospect of relief.
In context
What do you know? he pressed, desperation rising in his chest as he sensed the urgency of time slipping away.
More examples
- His voice revealed growing desperation.
- They appealed for help out of desperation.
- The delay deepened her desperation.
Forms
desperation
Similar words
- despair
- Emphasizes lost hope rather than the urgent drive to act.
- urgency
- Urgency requires quick action without necessarily implying hopeless distress.