desolation

[ des-uh-ley-shuhn ]
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noun
  1. an act or instance of destroying or devastating land, population, community, etc: The war’s desolation of the land destroyed years of hard and hopeful work.

  2. the state of being destroyed or devastated, as land, population, community, etc.: The utter desolation of the Western Front was captured in unforgettable photographs.

  1. dreariness; barrenness: The poet fashions a mood of desolation and despair in his works.

  2. deprivation of companionship; loneliness: Some homesteaders could not endure the desolation of life on the prairie, and returned to the city.

  3. sorrow; grief; woe: She was so deep in her desolation, we don’t know if our words of comfort reached her.

  4. a desolate place: The town was once a desolation.

Origin of desolation

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English desolacioun, dis(s)olacioun, from Late Latin dēsōlātiōn- (stem of dēsōlātiō ) “abandonment,” equivalent to dēsōlāt(us) desolate + -iōn- -ion

Words Nearby desolation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use desolation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for desolation

desolation

/ (ˌdɛsəˈleɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act of desolating or the state of being desolated; ruin or devastation

  2. solitary misery; wretchedness

  1. a desolate region; barren waste

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