desperately

The word “desperately” means in a way that shows urgent need or a lack of hope; extremely badly. In plain terms, the adverb form of "desperate" — used to intensify how badly something is needed or felt.

“Desperately” is pronounced DEHSP-ruht-lee (/ˈdɛsp(ə)ɹətli/ in IPA).

Here is “desperately” used in a sentence: “The team desperately needed a win to stay in the tournament.”

“Desperately” is an adverb.

“Desperately” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Desperately” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: in a way that shows urgent need or a lack of hope; extremely badly.

No. Alongside its core sense of urgent need or fading hope, as in "desperately searching for survivors," desperately also works as a plain intensifier meaning extremely, as in "desperately unhappy" or "she desperately wanted the job."

Urgently is about time: something must happen quickly. Desperately adds emotion, implying deep need or near-hopelessness, so "desperately needs help" sounds more anguished than "urgently needs help."

Desperately means with urgent need or to an extreme degree. Disparately, from the adjective disparate, means in ways that are markedly different from one another. The two look and sound similar but are unrelated, and writers occasionally type one in place of the other.

Desperately most often modifies verbs of wanting and seeking: desperately need, want, try, seek, and hope. Before adjectives it acts as an intensifier, as in desperately poor, desperately short of time, and desperately unhappy.