desolate

[des-uh-lit, des-uh-leyt]

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.

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

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

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of desolate¹

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 )

Word History and Origins

Origin of desolate¹

C14: from Latin dēsōlāre to leave alone, from _de- + sōlāre to make lonely, lay waste, from sōlus alone

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Or your favorite vacation spot might be the perfect beach town in the summer, but desolate and lonely in the winter.

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The desolate morning we had first walked into suddenly blossoms into a different type of festive crowd.

Read more on Salon

As Sánchez would learn, Spaniards discovered gold in 1771 in a desolate area 50 miles south of what is now Arizona.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Roz stood on a rocky outcrop and scanned the desolate landscape.

Read more on Literature

The wives and children are arbitrarily detained in sprawling desolate tented camps that amount to open-air prisons.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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