desolation
[des-uh-ley-shuh n]
- an act or instance of desolating.
- the state of being desolated.
- devastation; ruin.
- depopulation.
- dreariness; barrenness.
- deprivation of companionship; loneliness.
- sorrow; grief; woe.
- a desolate place.
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Origin of desolation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for desolation
Contemporary Examples
It is the desolation of exiled Tibetans that dominates the tenor here, but it is not the only one.
As you work through the collection, the scenes become more stagnant, more still, as desolation takes over.
Some people assume that if you can't speak or hear, you live in a cage of silence and desolation.
She vividly describes the desolation and frustration of incarceration and puts Knox in every scene.
Historical Examples
She returned at last to her little home, to find it a scene of desolation.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
There was a monotone of desolation as she went on speaking in a whisper meant for the ears of no other.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
For him this was desolation, such a catastrophe that he forgot his torments.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
Far and wide lay a ruined country, yielding nothing but desolation.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
Yet there was a grandeur in my desolation that would have elevated my heart but for the fear.
Ranald Bannerman's BoyhoodGeorge MacDonald
desolation
- the act of desolating or the state of being desolated; ruin or devastation
- solitary misery; wretchedness
- a desolate region; barren waste
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for desolation
n.
late 14c., "action of laying waste," also "sorrow, grief," from Old French desolacion (12c.) "desolation, devastation, hopelessness, despair," from Church Latin desolationem (nominative desolatio), noun of action from past participle stem of desolare (see desolate (adj.)). Meaning "condition of being ruined or wasted" is from early 15c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper