Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Desperation \Des`per*a"tion\, n. [L. desperatio: cf. OF.
   desperation.]
   1. The act of despairing or becoming desperate; a giving up
      of hope.

            This desperation of success chills all our industry.
                                                  --Hammond.

   2. A state of despair, or utter hopeless; abandonment of
      hope; extreme recklessness; reckless fury.

            In the desperation of the moment, the officers even
            tried to cut their way through with their swords.
                                                  --W. Irving.

Source : WordNet®

desperation
     n 1: a state in which everything seems wrong and will turn out
          badly; "they were rescued from despair at the last
          minute" [syn: {despair}]
     2: desperate recklessness; "it was a policy of desperation"