desperation
/dɛspəˈreɪʃn
/noun [mass noun]
A state of despair, typically one which results in rash or extreme behaviour: she wrote to him in desperation...
- Her story is one of poverty and desperation typical of a country that has known nothing but war for the past decade.
- It signals desperation and a lack of confidence in those who look to the famous for guidance.
- Through the syntax of misery and desperation shines no light, only more of the same.
Synonyms
hopelessness, despair, distress;
anguish, pain, agony, torment, torture, misery, wretchedness;
disheartenment, discouragement, resignedness, forlornness, defeatism, pessimism
recklessness, rashness, impetuosity, foolhardiness, riskiness, audacity, boldness, wildness, imprudence, injudiciousness
Origin
Late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin desperatio(n-), from the verb desperare (see despair).