The phrase "a certain desperation" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a feeling or state of urgency or hopelessness that is somewhat vague or not fully defined.
Example: "As the deadline approached, there was a certain desperation in her voice that made it clear she needed help."
Alternatives: "a degree of desperation" or "an air of desperation".
This leads to a certain desperation.
There was a certain desperation that made it possible.
The fact that experiments like this go on implies a certain desperation.
Since neither of these occupations could remotely be described as successful, the new strategy smacks of a certain desperation.
It's also a fresh wrinkle in the independent film world, where more is being made than seen, and the social-networking universe is being explored, with a certain desperation, as a way of reaching audiences.
His late entry into the debate and membership of the international celebocracy speaks volumes about 1) a certain desperation, and 2) a campaign seemingly devoid of roots and the common touch.
The past five years have seen a democratically run government, but have also been an era of inflation, low economic growth and intense violence, building up a sense of frustration and certain desperation to change things for better.
As a measure of "Tatort's" familiarity, as well as of a certain political desperation, this spring the German Left Party even put up a former "Tatort" actor, Peter Sodann, as its candidate for president.
I felt strongly that there was something unique about Uma, that she alone could bring that character to life and capture her strength and at the same time convey a certain mad desperation".
"If pikes had been useful in the hands of past military men," Governor Brown asked rhetorically, "why would they not be effective in the hands of Georgia soldiers?" But if the governor's plan spoke to a certain early desperation in the South, it also underscored diverging Confederate strategies — indeed, diverging ideas about the Confederacy itself.
Surviving is a creative act; surviving in the face of unlikely odds requires a certain crazy desperation and a kind of hope.
