Noah Webster
Desperate
DESPERATE, adjective [Latin To despair.]
1. Without hope.
I am desperate of obtaining her.
2. Without care of safety; rash; fearless of danger; as a desperate man. Hence,
3. Furious, as a man in despair.
4. Hopeless; despaired of; lost beyond hope of recovery; irretrievable; irrecoverable; forlorn. We speak of a desperate case of disease, desperate fortunes, a desperate situation or condition.
5. In a popular sense, great in the extreme; as a desperate sot or fool.