| 绝望 | jué wàng | to despair / to give up all hope / desperate / desperation |   |
| 危急 | wēi jí | critical / desperate (situation) | |
| 惨烈 | cǎn liè | bitter / desperate | |
| 走投无路 | zǒu tóu wú lù | to be at an impasse (idiom) / in a tight spot / at the end of one's rope / desperate | |
| 穷蹙 | qióng cù | hard-up / in dire straits / desperate | |
| 绝境 | jué jìng | desperate straits | |
| 回天 | huí tiān | to reverse a desperate situation | |
| 殊死 | shū sǐ | to behead / capital punishment / desperate struggle / life-and-death | |
| 残局 | cán jú | endgame (in chess) / desperate situation / aftermath (of a failure) | |
| 力挽狂澜 | lì wǎn kuáng lán | to pull strongly against a crazy tide (idiom) / fig. to try hard to save a desperate crisis | |
| 血路 | xuè lù | desperate getaway (from a battlefield) / to cut a bloody path out of a battlefield | |
| 燃眉之急 | rán méi zhī jí | lit. the fire burns one's eyebrows (idiom) / fig. desperate situation / extreme emergency | |
| 饥寒交迫 | jī hán jiāo pò | beset by hunger and cold (idiom) / starving and freezing / in desperate poverty | |
| 死战 | sǐ zhàn | fight to the death / desperate struggle | |
| 颠沛流离 | diān pèi liú lí | homeless and miserable (idiom) / to wander about in a desperate plight / to drift | |
| 火烧眉毛 | huǒ shāo méi mao | lit. the fire burns one's eyebrows (idiom) / fig. desperate situation / extreme emergency | |
| 亡命之徒 | wáng mìng zhī tú | runaway (idiom) / desperate criminal / fugitive | |
| 弹尽粮绝 | dàn jìn liáng jué | out of ammunition and no food left (idiom) / in desperate straits | |
| 不可终日 | bù kě zhōng rì | to be unable to carry on even for a single day / to be in a desperate situation | |
| 逼上梁山 | bī shàng liáng shān | driven to join the Liangshan Mountain rebels / to drive to revolt / to force sb to desperate action | |
| 弹尽援绝 | dàn jìn yuán jué | out of ammunition and no hope of reinforcements (idiom) / in desperate straits | |
| 死马当活马医 | sǐ mǎ dāng huó mǎ yī | lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom) / fig. to keep trying everything in a desperate situation | |
| 狗急跳墙 | gǒu jí tiào qiáng | a cornered dog will jump over the wall (idiom) / to be driven to desperate action | |
| 穷鼠啮狸 | qióng shǔ niè lí | a desperate rat will bite the fox (idiom) / the smallest worm will turn being trodden on | |
| 釜底游鱼 | jǐn dǐ yóu yú | a fish at the bottom of the pot (idiom) / in a desperate situation | |
| 死马当活马医 | sǐ mǎ dàng huó mǎ yī | lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom) / fig. to keep trying everything in a desperate situation | |
| 釜底游鱼 | fǔ dǐ yóu yú | a fish at the bottom of the pot (idiom) / in a desperate situation | |
| 背城借一 | bèi chéng jiè yī | to make a last-ditch stand before the city wall (idiom) / to fight to the last ditch / to put up a desperate struggle | |
| 绝望的境地 | jué wàng de jìng dì | desperate straits / impossible situation | |
| 颠沛 | diān pèi | to fall over / to stumble / (fig.) to suffer hardship / to be in desperate straits | |
| 赤贫者 | chì pín zhě | desperate poor | |
| 大旱望云霓 | dà hàn wàng yún ní | lit. looking for rain clouds in times of drought (idiom) / fig. desperate for an escape from a difficult situation | |
