desperately

adverb

des·​per·​ate·​ly ˈde-sp(ə-)rət-lē How to pronounce desperately (audio)
-spərt-
1
: in a way that involves despair, extreme measures, or rashness : in a desperate manner
struggling desperately
desperately crying out
2
: extremely, terribly
desperately tired
desperately important

Examples of desperately in a Sentence

all of a sudden everything went desperately wrong
Recent Examples on the Web Survivors of the floods desperately needed help and still need help. Shane Harris, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024 Or an encounter with a person at a party who desperately wants to talk about the banjo. Janay Kingsberry, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024 Elsewhere, hungry civilians desperately climb over each other at the first sign of aid – exposing themselves to potential danger. Sana Noor Haq, CNN, 13 Mar. 2024 The Ukrainian war effort desperately needs U.S. munitions and other military systems. Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 12 Mar. 2024 Others try to quiet their desperately hungry children by giving them chewing gum. Zaina Arafat, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Finding Nemo remains one of Pixar's most beloved films, telling the story of Marlin, a clownfish desperately searching for his missing son. Madeline Boardman, EW.com, 11 Mar. 2024 But Oppenheimer is a prestige World War II biographical drama that made almost $1 billion at the box office, proving that there’s a market for adult movies in an era when the Oscars have desperately grasped for any chance at relevance with wider audiences. David Sims, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2024 Baseball’s absurd free agent market – one that desperately needed revamping in the last round of collective bargaining, only for the player’s union to errantly stand pat – is self correcting. Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'desperately.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

desperate + -ly entry 2

First Known Use

circa 1547, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of desperately was circa 1547

Dictionary Entries Near desperately

Cite this Entry

“Desperately.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desperately. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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