What does desperateness mean?
Desperateness is a noun describing the state of being desperate — an overwhelming condition marked by urgency, anxiety, or loss of hope. It applies both to people, who may feel or show desperateness when circumstances leave them few options, and to actions or measures whose extreme, last-resort character reflects that state. A person might speak with the desperateness of someone who has exhausted every alternative, while a plan might be described as bearing the desperateness of a final gamble. In everyday usage the word is notably rarer than its close synonym "desperation," which dominates ordinary speech; "desperateness" survives mostly in formal, literary, or deliberately emphatic contexts, where it can lend a slightly heavier, more considered tone. Derived from the adjective "desperate," which traces back through Latin desperare, "to lose hope," the word carries strongly negative connotations of distress, recklessness, and urgency.
nounThe state or quality of being desperate; a feeling of extreme urgency, hopelessness, or despair that drives reckless or frantic action.
- A state of despair or hopelessness so severe that it drives reckless or extreme behavior.
- The quality of being urgent or extreme in character (e.g., of an act or measure).
"The desperateness of their situation drove them to attempt the crossing in a leaking boat."
"She could hear the desperateness in his voice as he begged for another chance."
"The desperateness of their last-ditch effort was evident to everyone watching."
Rarely used in the plural, as the word denotes an abstract uncountable state; plural forms occur only in unusual literary or philosophical contexts.
"The novel traces the desperatenesses of several characters pushed to their limits."
Despite meaning roughly the same thing as "desperation," desperateness is so rare that many spellcheckers flag it — yet it has been in English since at least the 16th century.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of desperateness
Desperateness is formed from the adjective "desperate" plus the suffix "-ness," which turns adjectives into abstract nouns. "Desperate" entered English in the late Middle Ages from Latin desperatus, the past participle of desperare, meaning "to lose hope," itself built from de- ("away from") and sperare ("to hope"), from spes, "hope." The noun form arose by regular derivation, appearing in English by around the 16th century, though it never displaced the more popular synonym "desperation." Related words sharing the Latin root include "despair," "desperado," and "desperately."
Related word forms
How desperateness is actually used
"Desperateness" is considerably less common than its synonym "desperation" and tends to appear in formal or literary writing. It can describe both an emotional state in a person and the extreme quality of an action, situation, or measure.
Easily confused with desperateness
"Desperation" is the far more common noun for the same state, while "desperateness" is a rarer, more formal variant emphasizing the quality itself.