desperate

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a person who is frightened and in need of help
  2. adjective arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope
  3. adjective desperately determined

Etymology

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).

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