Desperation is the reckless state that comes from having no hope left. When nothing can make things worse, people try anything.
It explains behaviour rather than excusing it, which is why the phrase an act of desperation is used about decisions nobody would make with options left. It takes in or out of. Sport uses it constantly, and a shot born of desperation is one taken because time has run out. The adjective desperate covers both the person and the situation, and desperate measures is half of a well-known proverb.
1noundesperationA state of hopelessness leading to reckless action.
“He sold the car in sheer desperation.”
Latin
dēspērātiō
Middle French
desperation
Middle English
desperacion,desperacioun,desperation,disparacion,disperacion,disperacioun,dispiracioune,dysperacioun
English, today
desperation
From Middle English desperacion,desperacioun,desperation,disparacion,disperacion,disperacioun,dispiracioune,dysperacioun, from Middle French desperation and its etymon Latin dēspērātiō. by surface analysis, desperate + -ion.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA