How to say "desperation" in Japanese

• やけCommon
  noun, na-adjectiveCovers desperation as self-abandonment: having given up hope, one stops caring about the consequences and acts recklessly. Think of someone who, in despair, does things they would never normally do.
• 自暴自棄じぼうじきCommon
  na-adjective, no-adjectiveA four-character idiom for abandoning oneself to despair and behaving destructively as a result. It labels the condition itself, suiting descriptions of someone who has given up on themselves.
  司教しきょうは、自暴自棄じぼうじきになった移民いみんたちを哀あわれんで助たすけを与あたえた。↗

  The bishop felt pity for the immigrants who were abandoned, and gave them help.
• 死に物狂いしにものぐるいCommon
  expression, no-adjectiveThis is desperation as effort, not emotion: striving with the frenzy of someone whose life is at stake. Use it for a last-ditch struggle or all-out attempt, not for despairing self-abandonment.
• 窮余きゅうよCommon
  nounA marginal way to say 'desperation': it really denotes the extremity of being cornered, with no means left. It suits contexts where desperation is the situation, not the emotion.

Use 「やけ」 for recklessness born of giving up, 自暴自棄 for the state of abandoning oneself to despair, 「死に物狂い」 for desperate all-out effort, and 窮余 for the extremity of being cornered.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• やけdesperation
• 自暴自棄じぼうじきdesperation
• 死に物狂いしにものぐるいdesperation
• 窮余きゅうよextremity
• やけくそdesperation
• 自棄じきdesperation
• 破れかぶれやぶれかぶれdesperation
• ヤケ腹ヤケばらdesperation
• 自暴じぼうdespair
• 苦し紛れくるしまぎれ(out of) desperation
• やけのやんぱち(sense of) desperation