How to spell desperate
desperate
Not desparate.
The trap
The middle vowel of desperate is an E, des-per-ate, and desparate swaps in an A. Unstressed, that E flattens to a murmur, and separate supplies the A that sounds as likely.
An unstressed vowel flattens to the same sound whatever letter spells it, so the ear cannot tell them apart. A relative that stresses the syllable gives the letter back.
What it means
adj. feeling hopeless and reckless
Other words with this trap
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Play today's Daily FiveSpellingIQ is a skill rating for spelling ability, not a clinical or psychometric IQ measure. American English is canonical; common variants are accepted.