How to Use desperately in a Sentence

desperately

adverb
  • The bear tried desperately to hang on but couldn’t muster the strength.
    — Mike Combs, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2025
  • Nir and his men desperately need equipment to keep them safe in the field.
    — Mark G. Astor, Sun Sentinel, 12 June 2024
  • The couple tried desperately to find a way out — to no avail.
    — Michelle Boudin, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025
  • Eliza loved her mother but desperately wished to have her own life.
    — Josh Zajdman, Vogue, 15 Nov. 2022
  • Your teens and young adult are bored straight and are desperately sick of each other.
    — Washington Post, 26 Jan. 2022
  • Hey, to the desperately thirsty, even a sip from a mud puddle tastes good.
    — Greg Cote february 11, Miami Herald, 11 Feb. 2026
  • Kasey Klemm searched desperately for a way to help her friend.
    — Peter Van Sant, CBS News, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Young would bring a lot of juice to a Colts pass rush that desperately needs it.
    — James Boyd, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2026
  • Who will step up and try to give some help to a pass defense that desperately needs it?
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Sep. 2025
  • That kind of two-way grit is what this roster desperately needs.
    — Lebron Antonio Hill, Sacbee.com, 3 Feb. 2026
  • The world desperately needs God's grace, and the church must be its voice.
    — Nick Hall, Fox News, 28 Mar. 2024
  • This is a team that desperately could’ve used an outside boost.
    — Peter Baugh, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
  • Sadiq adds depth to the passing game that desperately needs it.
    — Dan Zaksheske, FOXNews.com, 21 Apr. 2026
  • Texas desperately wants to enter the break with the lead.
    — Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 25 Feb. 2026
  • The team desperately needed more depth on the edge.
    — Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 25 Apr. 2026
  • That is what our country desperately needs right now.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Running late to class or work but desperately in need of a quick morning bite?
    — The Arizona Republic, 5 Aug. 2023
  • The Vikings desperately need to turn up the heat on Goff this week.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 1 Nov. 2025
  • But this is still a hockey town that desperately wants to be a Sabres town again.
    — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Leipold desperately wants to hoist the Cup.
    — Michael Russo, New York Times, 9 Oct. 2025
  • All the while their eight-year-old is on the sidelines—a desperately sad witness.
    — Marley Marius, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2025
  • Gilead has been desperately searching for her since.
    — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2026
  • So desperately did the Dolphins need a game like this.
    — Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
  • On the flip side, Twitter’s board desperately wants to see this deal go through.
    — Jacob Carpenter, Fortune, 13 May 2022
  • But what this squad desperately needs is more firepower up front.
    — The Athletic, New York Times, 27 June 2026
  • Kara desperately wants to find out what happened to her best friend, Phoebe, who may be dead.
    — Oline H. Cogdill, Sun Sentinel, 11 June 2026
  • Survivors of the floods desperately needed help and still need help.
    — Shane Harris, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Mar. 2024
  • Both teams desperately need wins.
    — Chris Branch, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • But any real fan has to be desperately aching to see how the rest of Fuller's mad scheme would play out.
    — James Mercadante, EW.com, 22 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'desperately.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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