as in extremely
to a great degree
all of a sudden everything went desperately wrong
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Recent Examples of desperately
The Cowboys desperately needed the following three picks to be on the offensive side of the ball.
—
Nick Harris
april 24, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2026
Taylor’s depiction of an outsider desperately looking in earns comparison with Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle and Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 22 Apr. 2026
Having Cagnoni, Allan, or Pohlkamp next season would certainly be a more economical option for Grier, who may need to devote a good chunk of salary cap space to bring in the kind of top four defensemen the Sharks desperately need.
—Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
Two local men had promised to help save Cairo, Illinois, by using the machine to print new homes in a town that desperately needed them.
—Molly Parker, ProPublica, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for desperately
Nick Harris
april 24, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2026
Taylor’s depiction of an outsider desperately looking in earns comparison with Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle and Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 22 Apr. 2026
Having Cagnoni, Allan, or Pohlkamp next season would certainly be a more economical option for Grier, who may need to devote a good chunk of salary cap space to bring in the kind of top four defensemen the Sharks desperately need.
—Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026
Two local men had promised to help save Cairo, Illinois, by using the machine to print new homes in a town that desperately needed them.
—Molly Parker, ProPublica, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for desperately
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperately
Adverb
-
These special releases can be extremely valuable, especially if only a small batch is issued.—
Nina Derwin,
Martha Stewart,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The innermost region of any solar system, closest to the parent star, will be extremely hot and subject to large amounts of radiation.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
30 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
The only way Simpson is pressed into starting duty is if something goes terribly wrong with Stafford.—
Armando Salguero OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Suzuki’s early struggles aren’t terribly alarming.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
In December, his newspaper The Washington Post, against the wishes of staffers, launched an AI podcast feature that badly regurgitates its articles, with predictably disastrous results.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The badly decomposed remains of a woman were found Wednesday evening in a dumpster near an Oakland freeway offramp, authorities said.—
Harry Harris,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
And yes, in 2026, rage coming from either side of the aisle is an incredibly powerful tool for marketing.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
28 Apr. 2026
-
But there’s something incredibly unnatural about the fast attention of the internet.—
Charlie Harding,
Vulture,
28 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
No, that stuff is all incredible and very much the result of good fortune in my career.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
What a treat to have both of these very different revivals opening on Broadway in a matter of days.—
Chris Jones,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Kinahan’s caution came too late.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Section Two of the 1965 Voting Rights Act aimed to prevent mapmakers from weakening the voting power of racial minorities by either packing them into one district or spreading them out across too many districts to have an impact.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
Adverb
-
Gas surges to highest level since 2022 As the cost of crude climbs, so do the prices of gasoline and other fuel that keep equipment, cars, buses, delivery trucks and airplanes running.—
Mae Anderson,
Chicago Tribune,
1 May 2026
-
The New York Knicks emphatically did so with a scoreline that should be reserved for horror movies.—
Dan Santaromita,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Adverb
-
The tragic death of Diogo Jota was unprecedented, and there was no time for Slot or his players to really grieve because the new season was just five weeks away.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Benet, who is very appealing, really deserved much more to do vocally.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desperately.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperately. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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