desperation

noun/ˌdɛspəˈreɪʃən/

Frequency rank: #7,212 of 20,003 in the WORDED list (wordfreq data)

Meaning

a state of hopelessness that leads to extreme or reckless actions

Illustration for the English word “desperation”

Example sentence

He jumped into the freezing water out of desperation to save his child.

Synonyms & related words

More words in ranks 7,201–7,300