desolate
Americanadjective
-
barren or laid waste; devastated.
a treeless, desolate landscape.
- Synonyms:
- bleak
-
deprived or destitute of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited.
- Synonyms:
- remote
-
a desolate life.
-
having the feeling of being abandoned by friends or by hope; forlorn.
-
desolate prospects.
verb (used with object)
-
desolates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
desolated,
past participle, past
-
desolating
present participle
adjective
-
uninhabited; deserted
-
made uninhabitable; laid waste; devastated
-
without friends, hope, or encouragement; forlorn, wretched, or abandoned
-
gloomy or dismal; depressing
verb
-
to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate
-
to make barren or lay waste; devastate
-
to make wretched or forlorn
-
to forsake or abandon
Synonym Usage
Desolate, disconsolate, forlorn suggest one who is in a sad and wretched condition. The desolate person is deprived of human consolation, relationships, or presence: desolate and despairing. The disconsolate person is aware of the efforts of others to console and comfort, but is unable to be relieved or cheered by them: She remained disconsolate even in the midst of friends. The forlorn person is lost, deserted, or forsaken by friends: wretched and forlorn in a strange city.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
desolatenessnoun
-
desolaternoun
-
desolatornoun
-
quasi-desolateadjective
-
desolatelyadverb
-
quasi-desolatelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
desolatesimple
-
desolatessimple
-
have desolatedperfect
-
has desolatedperfect
-
am desolatingprogressive
-
are desolatingprogressive
-
is desolatingprogressive
-
have been desolatingperfect progressive
-
has been desolatingperfect progressive
Past
-
desolatedsimple
-
had desolatedperfect
-
was desolatingprogressive
-
were desolatingprogressive
-
had been desolatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of desolate
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin dēsōlātus “forsaken,” past participle of dēsōlāre, from dē- de- + sōlāre “to make lonely” (derivative of sōlus sole 1 )
Explanation
If you feel alone, left out, and devastated, you feel desolate. A deserted, empty, depressing place can be desolate too. If you know the word deserted, you have a clue to the meaning of desolate, a grim word that can describe feelings and places. When a person feels desolate, he feels deserted, lonely, hopeless, and sad. When a location is desolate, there's almost nothing there. Think of a rundown cabin in the middle of nowhere, with no running water and no stores or other people anywhere. That's a desolate setting. Being in a desolate place usually makes people feel desolate.
Vocabulary lists containing desolate
Figurative Language in King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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Zilch, Zip, Nada: Words For Nothing
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Tapeheads” captures a specific moment in Los Angeles history, sure to be nostalgic for some, from a desolate downtown to a percolating music scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
A failed plan to bring in casinos left the area desolate after other businesses closed to make way for development that never emerged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
"A fire is devastating. People who want to come will come anyway. But it’s not the same seeing the green hills as seeing them completely desolate and black."
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo was desolate, insisting everyone in the game is now confused as to what constituted a foul in the penalty area at set-pieces.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
The witch did not step toward them, she did not call to them, she merely stood there, completely still, the center of this desolate universe, while the air bowed to her.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
He visits Barbara's soup kitchen shelter and proves with an open checkbook that he can bribe the poor and buy the Army, which desolates Barbara.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sudden death of Leontes' young son desolates him.
From Time Magazine Archive
But your misrepresentation which pained me most, in fact desolates me to the extent that I am unfit for work, is your statement that I weigh 200 Ib.
From Time Magazine Archive
He desolates the whole Mohammedan kingdom—and still he is not sated.
From Folk-Tales of Napoleon The Napoleon of the People; Napoleonder by George Kennan
It desolates me to think that I cannot offer these apologies to Mr. Vantine in person.
From The Mystery of the Boule Cabinet A Detective Story by Burton Egbert Stevenson
"This was the first time I realized what an enormous task it was to take a piece of desolated desert and turn it into a blooming oasis," Zer writes.
From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2024
Hospital director Dr Muhammad Abu Salima has called on the WHO and the UN to help the medical teams and patients "leave this desolated place".
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2023
Even in the depths of the pandemic — even when the world locked down, leaving billions isolated and desolated — there were those who danced.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2021
Already desolated by the empty nest, Alice is also distraught about their dog, Maebelle, a tiny dachshund-Chihuahua mutt who escaped in Riverside Park.
From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2020
But there were not many black people visible on this day and Paradise had the look of a town desolated by plague or the rumor of plague.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
When D’Amore isn’t speaking — and for most of those three minutes and 40 seconds, she is silent — her body language is desolating.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2019
“The simple way...to put an end to the savage and desolating war now waged by the slaveholders, is to strike down slavery itself, the primal cause of that war.”
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
It sounds as if your mother is relatively young herself, so this is a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s which is even more desolating.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2015
As the actors take up their places, a desolating video begins to play.
From The Guardian ● May 11, 2013
Once again I had the desolating sense of having all along ignored what was finest in him.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
