desperately

English

Etymology

From desperate +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛsp(ə)ɹətli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: des‧per‧ate‧ly

Adverb

desperately (comparative more desperately, superlative most desperately)

1. In a desperate manner; without regard to danger or safety; recklessly.

   She desperately grabbed at the nearby branches as she heard the branch she was standing on start to snap.

   I could desperately do with some coffee right now.

   • 1999, “Stately Lover”, performed by Lacuna Coil:

     I just need you miserably
     Broken man come to me
     I just need you desperately
     Just want to change your mind

   • 2007 August 21, Jan Hoffman, “Soldiering On, Home to Home, in a Squeezed Health System”, in The New York Times‎:

     The patient, who lumbers painfully, has a question: She desperately wants a knee replacement, but doesn’t understand why three doctors have rejected her. Ms. Purdie translates doctorspeak.

2. extremely

   The race for silver medal was desperately close, they needed a photo finish to separate the runners.

Translations

in a desperate manner

Catalan: desesperadament (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 拼命地 (zh) (pīnmìng de), 死命地 (zh) (sǐmìng de) Czech: zoufale (cs) Danish: desperat, fortvivlet Dutch: wanhopig (nl) Finnish: epätoivoisesti (fi) French: désespérément (fr) Galician: desesperadamente German: verzweifelt (de) Hebrew: נואשות (he) (noashot) Japanese: 必死になって (ja) (ひっしになって, hisshi ni natte) Norwegian: Bokmål: desperat Nynorsk: desperat Polish: rozpaczliwie (pl), desperacko Portuguese: desesperadamente (pt) Russian: отча́янно (ru) (otčájanno) Spanish: desesperadamente