Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

dēspērātĭo, ōnis, f. [despero], hopelessness, despair: desperatio est aegritudo sine ulla rerum exspectatione meliorum, Cic. Tusc. 4, 8, 18.

  1. I. Prop. (good prose and very freq.).
          1. (α) With gen.: omnium rerum amissio et desperatio recuperandi, Cic. Fam. 4, 3, 2: omnium rerum, id. Cat. 2, 11 fin. (opp. bona spes); Liv. 21, 1; Suet. Ner. 2 et saep.: victoriae, Cic. Phil. 8, 5: magna pacis, Caes. B. C. 1, 11, 3: omnium salutis, id. ib. 1, 5, 3; Liv. 3, 2 et saep.
          2. (β) Absol.: magna desperatione affectus, Cic. Att. 14, 19: ad summam desperationem pervenire, Caes. B. C. 2, 42, 2: ad desperationem adducti, Nep. Eum. 12; cf.: ad desperationem redactus, Suet. Aug. 81: in desperatione esse, Front. Strat. 3, 17, 7: ad desperationem formidine properare, Tac. H. 2, 46 et saep.: a desperatione iram accendit, Liv. 31, 17; cf. Tac. H. 2, 44 fin.
            In plur.: desperationes eorum, qui, etc., Cic. Fam. 2, 16, 6.
  2. II. Meton., desperate boldness, foolhardiness: desperatio truculentae feminae, Ap. M. 10, p. 251: periculosa, Vulg. 2 Reg. 2, 26; id. Sirach, 27, 24.