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Yes, I think you have it right, now. I’m actually surprised about your listed definitions because as a native english speaker, those definitions seem definitiv
by pmichaud 5y ago
Yes, I think you have it right, now.
I’m actually surprised about your listed definitions because as a native english speaker, those definitions seem definitively wrong to me, as desperation means exactly that you haven’t quite yet given up hope even though the situation is dire. “Desperate” is like an intense kind of desire, which in my mind is the opposite of hopelessness.
- cmehdy 5y agoI collated those definitions from a couple websites and they all closed in on the same terms, which is also what I had come to understand over the years. But it's possibly a case of definitions and usage shifting a bit, or maybe a cultural element (defined in British English vs American perhaps?). But I got the closer meaning by looking up "despair" rather than desperation, so it was one hop away :)