Definition of desperate

• a person who is frightened and in need of help; "they prey on the hopes of the desperate"
• arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope; "a despairing view of the world situation"; "the last despairing plea of the condemned criminal"; "a desperate cry for help"; "helpless and desperate--as if at the end of his tether"; "her desperate screams"
• desperately determined; "do-or-die revolutionaries"; "a do-or-die conflict"