| showing extreme courage; especially of actions courageously undertaken in desperation as a last resort | without hope because there seems to be no possibility of comfort or success |
| fraught with extreme danger; nearly hopeless | (informal to emphasize how bad it is) beyond hope of management or reform |
| arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope | certain to fail |
| showing extreme urgency or intensity especially because of great need or desire | of a person unable to do something skillfully |
| desperately determined | |
| (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair | |