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desperation

American  
[des-puh-rey-shuhn] / ˌdɛs pəˈreɪ ʃən /

noun

  1. the state of being desperate or of having the recklessness of despair.

  2. the act or fact of despairing; despair.

desperation British  
/ ˌdɛspəˈreɪʃən /

noun

  1. desperate recklessness

  2. the act of despairing or the state of being desperate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See despair.

Etymology

Origin of desperation

1325–75; Middle English desperacioun < Latin dēspērātiōn- (stem of dēspērātiō ). See desperate, -ion

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.