Learn English – n idiomatic ‘to be desperate’ usage (without ‘for’ or ‘to’)

meaning

All dictionaries I have checked seem to agree on the basic meanings of 'desperate', but here are two instances I can't fit properly into any of the categories:

Situation 1: kid needs to go to the bathroom; mother asks:

Are you desperate? Can't you wait till we get home?

Situation 2: someone has no place to stay; friend says:

You can stay here for a couple of days if you're desperate.

It's not like these people are

  • 'feeling or showing that they have little hope and are ready to do anything without worrying about danger to themselves or others' (Oxford Learners)
  • 'very sad and upset because of having little or no hope' (MW)
  • 'very worried and angry because they do not know how to deal with an
    unpleasant situation' (Macmillan)
  • 'willing to do anything to change a very bad situation, and not
    caring about danger' (Longman)

Also, they are not 'violent', 'rash' or 'dangerous'.

The seemingly obvious solution is that they are

  • 'needing or wanting something very much' (Oxford Learners / Macmillan / Cambridge)
  • 'having a very great desire, need, etc.' (Longman)

However, all of these dictionary exclusively offer examples that have 'desperate for' and 'desperate to' in them. Not a single one reflecting the usage of my two examples, with a free-standing 'desperate'.

Are these unorthodox usages I shouldn't make much of, or something the dictionaries failed to include (either as a separate meaning, or a distinct kind of usage)?

Best Answer

I'm not sure why these dictionaries don't seem to have a definition that fits because I find your examples to be perfectly idiomatic (as a native English speaker).

The definition (from my dictionary) that fits best here is:

(of a person) having a great need or desire for something
Oxford Dictionaries

It may be listed as requiring for or to, but usage says otherwise. And usage is really what matters. Look for example at Urban Dictionary:

Someone who wants something so bad they will go to extreme lengths to get it.
actually laughing at Jakcs pick up lines? that is so desperate.

That's the highest voted definition, and it's essentially the same as the one I quoted above except it doesn't require for/to.

I would say that many of the runners-up are just specific versions of this same definition (there are a number that define the term as "desperate for a relationship"). It's interesting to note that definition 6 is exactly the definition you used in your first example.

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