desolatingly,adv.|ˈdɛsəleɪtɪŋlɪ| [f. desolating ppl. a. + -ly2.] In a manner that desolates or saddens. 1888‘L. Malet’ Counsel of Perfection xiv. 323 These desolatingly encouraging persons.1909H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay i. iii. 81 A drab-coloured passage..not only narrow and dirty but desolatingly empty.