DESPERATE. Of which there is no hope. 2. This term is used frequently, in making an inventory of a decedent's effects, when a debt is considered so bad that there is no hope of recovering it. It is then called a desperate debt, and, if it be so returned, it will be prima facie, considered as desperate. See Toll. Ex. 248 2 Williams, Ex. 644; 1 Chit. Pr. 580. See Sperate.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
 

Desperate \Des"per*ate\, n. One desperate or hopeless. [Obs.]

[1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Desperate \Des"per*ate\, a. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]

1. Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [Obs.]

[1913 Webster]

I am desperate of obtaining her. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2. Beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or, at least, extremely dangerous; as, a desperate disease; desperate fortune. [1913 Webster]

3. Proceeding from, or suggested by, despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as, a desperate effort. "Desperate expedients." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

4. Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality. [1913 Webster]

A desperate offendress against nature. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

The most desperate of reprobates. --Macaulay.

Syn: Hopeless; despairing; desponding; rash; headlong; precipitate; irretrievable; irrecoverable; forlorn; mad; furious; frantic. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

111 Moby Thesaurus words for "desperate": Dionysiac, accident-prone, aching for, acute, affording no hope, amok, apathetic, atrocious, bacchic, baffled, balked, berserk, bleak, breakneck, careless, cheerless, climacteric, comfortless, compelling, concentrated, corybantic, craving, critical, crucial, crying, dangerous, desirous of, despairing, despondent, desponding, devil-may-care, dire, disconsolate, dismal, exquisite, fierce, foiled, foolhardy, forlorn, frantic, frenetic, frenzied, frustrated, furious, grave, great, grim, hard pressed, hard up, harum-scarum, hasty, hazardous, headlong, heinous, hopeless, hotheaded, hurried, impetuous, in despair, in desperate straits, in extremis, in extremities, like one possessed, mad, madding, maenadic, maniac, maniacal, monstrous, overeager, overenthusiastic, overzealous, panic-stricken, perilous, pinched, precarious, precipitant, precipitate, precipitous, pressing, rabid, raging, ranting, rash, raving, raving mad, reckless, running wild, scandalous, serious, shocking, slap-bang, slapdash, sorely pressed, stark-raving mad, straitened, tenuous, terrible, thwarted, uncontrollable, unhopeful, up against it, urgent, vehement, venturesome, vicious, violent, wanton, wild, without hope, wretched

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

desperate adj
1: arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope; "a despairing view of the world situation"; "the last despairing plea of the condemned criminal"; "a desperate cry for help"; "helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether"; "her desperate screams" [syn: despairing]
2: desperately determined; "do-or-die revolutionaries"; "a do-or-die conflict" [syn: do-or-die(a)]
3: (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair; "a desperate criminal"; "taken hostage of desperate men"
4: showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort; "made a last desperate attempt to reach the climber"; "the desperate gallantry of our naval task forces marked the turning point in the Pacific war"- G.C.Marshall; "they took heroic measures to save his life" [syn: heroic]
5: showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire; "felt a desperate urge to confess"; "a desperate need for recognition"
6: fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless; "a desperate illness"; "on all fronts the Allies were in a desperate situation due to lack of materiel"- G.C.Marshall; "a dire emergency" [syn: dire]

noun

a person who is frightened and in need of help; "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Desperate \Des"per*ate\, n. One desperate or hopeless. [Obs.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Desperate \Des"per*ate\, a. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]

1. Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [Obs.]

I am desperate of obtaining her. --Shak.

2. Beyond hope; causing despair; extremely perilous; irretrievable; past cure, or, at least, extremely dangerous; as, a desperate disease; desperate fortune.

3. Proceeding from, or suggested by, despair; without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious; as, a desperate effort. ``Desperate expedients.'' --Macaulay.

4. Extreme, in a bad sense; outrageous; -- used to mark the extreme predominance of a bad quality.

A desperate offendress against nature. --Shak.

The most desperate of reprobates. --Macaulay.

Syn: Hopeless; despairing; desponding; rash; headlong; precipitate; irretrievable; irrecoverable; forlorn; mad; furious; frantic.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)