FreeScrabbleDictionary

desperation

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
14
Words With Friends
16
Letters
11
Pronunciation
/ˌdɛspəˈɹeɪʃən/

Definition of desperation

4 senses · 1 part of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.
    “in desperation”
    “utter desperation”
See all 4 definitions

noun

  1. (countable, uncountable)The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up of hope.
    “in desperation”
    “utter desperation”
  2. (countable, uncountable)A state of despair, or utter hopelessness; abandonment of hope.
    “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.”
  3. (countable, uncountable)Reckless fury.
    “"The PM’s private reassurances are worthless given her track record of u-turns and her clear desperation to cling to power."”
  4. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)Ellipsis of bladder desperation.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English desperacion, desperacioun, desperation, disparacion, disperacion, disperacioun, dispiracioune, dysperacioun, from Middle French desperation and its etymon Latin dēspērātiō, dēspērātiōnis. By surface analysis, desperate + -ion.

Anagrams of desperation

2 plays · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from desperation

200+ playable · top: INTERPOSED (13 pts)

Best play interposed 13 points

10-letter words

8 words

9-letter words

34 words

8-letter words

127 words

7-letter words

30 words

Hooks

1 extension · 1 back

A single letter you can add to desperation to make another valid word.

Back

Find your best play with desperation

See every word you can make from a set of letters that includes desperation, or browse word lists you can mine for high-scoring plays.

Find more plays Browse word lists