desolate

American  

[des-uh-lit, des-uh-leyt] / ˈdɛs ə lɪt, ˈdɛs əˌleɪt /

adjective

1. barren or laid waste; devastated.

   a treeless, desolate landscape.

   Synonyms:

   bleak

2. deprived or destitute of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited.

   Synonyms:

   remote

3. solitary; lonely.

   a desolate life.

4. having the feeling of being abandoned by friends or by hope; forlorn.

   Synonyms:

   hopeless, cheerless, inconsolable, woeful, woebegone, wretched, miserable, lost, lonesome

   Antonyms:

   happy, delighted

5. dreary; dismal; gloomy.

   desolate prospects.

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verb (used with object)

desolated, desolating

1. to lay waste; devastate.

   Synonyms:

   ruin, ravage

2. to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate.

3. to make disconsolate.

   Synonyms:

   depress, sadden

4. to forsake or abandon.

   Synonyms:

   desert

desolate British  

adjective

1. uninhabited; deserted

2. made uninhabitable; laid waste; devastated

3. without friends, hope, or encouragement; forlorn, wretched, or abandoned

4. gloomy or dismal; depressing

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verb

1. to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate

2. to make barren or lay waste; devastate

3. to make wretched or forlorn

4. to forsake or abandon

Related Words

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

• desolately adverb
• desolateness noun
• desolater noun
• desolator noun
• quasi-desolate adjective
• quasi-desolately adverb

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 )

Example Sentences

PHOENIX—On a desolate stretch of land dotted with cactuses some 30 minutes north of Phoenix, more than 30 cranes tower over a construction site 2½ times the size of New York City’s Central Park.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Usually, people go to a destination,” said Andriy Bratash, who captained the ship that carried Brown to the southern Pacific’s desolate center.

From The Wall Street Journal

It stretches northward into desolate permafrost regions flush with “oil sands” that produce about nine times as much crude as Alaska.

From The Wall Street Journal

I thought about going with Bright to the lake till my head hurt, and I got home from school that afternoon in a desolate mood, only to find Ma in bed with fever.

From Literature

It resembles a space mission, with an intrepid rover traversing desolate distant terrain.

From Barron's

Related Words

• bare
• bleak
• derelict
• dreary
• empty
• isolated
• lonely
• lonesome
• uninhabited