desperation.

An urgent state in which danger or need makes someone feel that few acceptable options remain.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• out of desperation
• growing desperation
• an act of desperation

On the page

Out of desperation, he climbed onto the roof to signal the helicopter.

The unanswered calls added desperation to her fear.

Their offer to surrender revealed desperation rather than trust.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. May drive reckless action, unlike helplessness that prevents it. Also arises from deprivation or grief, not only fear. Usually uncountable in this sense. Derived family (not additional inflections or records): desperate.