What is the difference between despair and desperate?

Answer 1

If you are desperate, you want something so much that you are willing to go farther than you normally would to get it. You might be really worried about your mother's help and desperate for someone to take it seriously, so you would yell at someone at a hospital, trying to get them to pay attention to you, when you normally are polite and respectful. You might take a chance on an experimental drug, or allow someone to help you that you don't really trust... because you are desperate, and out of options, and will try almost anything.

If you are in despair, you have lost hope. You don't think that things are going to get better... you think they will just stay bad, and that there is no way out... not even a desperate one.

Answer 2

Despair refers to a complete loss of hope, while desperate means feeling a strong need or desire for something. Despair is more emotional and psychological, indicating a sense of utter hopelessness, while desperate is more about a sense of urgency or extreme need.