desperado

Etymology

From obsolete Spanish desperado, past participle of desperar, archaic form of desesperar (“to despair”), from Latin disperare (“to despair, to lose hope”), from prefix dis- + sperare (“to hope”). Doublet of desperate.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɛspəˈɹɑːdəʊ/

• Audio (US):

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Noun

desperado (plural desperadoes or desperados)

1. A bold outlaw, especially one from southern portions of the Wild West.
   • 1850, Thomas Carlyle, “The present time”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets:

     The kind of persons who excite or give signal to such revolutions — students, young men of letters […], or fierce and justly bankrupt desperadoes, acting everywhere on the discontent of the millions and blowing it into flame, — might give rise to reflections as to the character of our epoch.

   • 1918, Willa Cather, My Antonia, paperback edition, Mirado Modern Classics, page 6:

     Surely this was the face of a desperado.

2. (colloquial) A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, an addict, etc.
   • 1981, Sam Grafstein, Dice Doctor:

     The shortstops and desperados were not permitted to play in this marker crap game.

3. (colloquial) A person who is desperately in love or is desperate for a romantic or sexual relationship.
4. (chess) A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically to bring about stalemate or perpetual check.

Anagrams

• dead-ropes

Etymology

Cebuanized form of English desperate, from Latin dēspērātus, past participle of dēspērō (“to be without hope”). Spanish desperado is a false friend.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: des‧pe‧ra‧do
• IPA^(key): /despeˈɾado/ [d̪es̪.peˈɾ̪a.d̪o]

Adjective

desperado (feminine desperada)

1. in dire need of something
2. being filled with, or in a state of despair; hopeless
3. without regard to danger or safety; reckless; furious

Verb

desperado (feminine desperada)

1. to be in dire need of something
2. to be reckless due to desperation

Noun

desperado (feminine desperada)

1. a desperate male person

Etymology

From Spanish desperado (“desperate person”), past participle of desperar, archaic form of desesperar (“to despair”).

Noun

desperado c (singular definite desperadoen, plural indefinite desperados or desperadoer)

1. desperado (outlaw)

See also

• desperat

References

• “desperado” in Den Danske Ordbog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish desperado

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdesperɑ(ː)do/, [ˈde̞s̠pe̞ˌrɑ̝(ː)do̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑdo
• Hyphenation^(key): des‧pe‧ra‧do

Noun

desperado

1. (chiefly in literature) desperado (SW US or Mexican outlaw)

Etymology

Borrowed from English desperado.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɛs.pə.ʁa.do/

Noun

desperado m (plural desperados)

1. desperado

Further reading

• “desperado”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /despeˈɾado/ [d̪es.peˈɾa.ð̞o]
• Rhymes: -ado
• Syllabification: des‧pe‧ra‧do

Adjective

desperado (feminine desperada, masculine plural desperados, feminine plural desperadas)

1. Obsolete form of desesperado.

Participle

desperado (feminine desperada, masculine plural desperados, feminine plural desperadas)

1. past participle of desperar

Further reading

• “desperado”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Etymology

Probably a pseudo-Hispanism, from English desperate, and influenced by Spanish desesperado.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /despeˈɾado/ [d̪ɛs.pɛˈɾaː.d̪o]
• Rhymes: -ado
• Syllabification: des‧pe‧ra‧do

Adjective

desperado (feminine desperada, Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜐ᜔ᜉᜒᜇᜇᜓ)

1. (common) alternative form of des-esperado: desperate; hopeless