desolate
1 of 2adjective
desolate
2 of 2verb
transitive verb
Did you know?
What is the word origin of desolate?
The word desolate hasn't strayed far from its Latin roots: its earliest meaning of "deserted" mirrors that of its Latin source dēsōlātus, which comes from the verb dēsōlāre, meaning "to leave all alone, forsake, empty of inhabitants." That word's root is sōlus, meaning "lone, acting without a partner, lonely, deserted," source too of sole, soliloquy, solitary, solitude, and solo. Desolate also functions as a verb with its most common meanings being "to lay waste" and "to make wretched; to make someone deeply dejected or distressed."
Synonyms
Adjective
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sullen
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Verb
- annihilate
- cream
- decimate
- demolish
- destroy
- devastate
- do in
- extinguish
- nuke
- pull down
- pulverize
- raze
- rub out
- ruin
- shatter
- smash
- tear down
- total
- vaporize
- waste
- wrack
- wreck
Example Sentences
Claire Rafford, The Indianapolis Star, 22 Aug. 2022 Despite being a quick stroll to City Hall’s stately dome, the five blocks on Market Street between Sixth and 11th streets were desolate. Roland Li, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 July 2022 Hans Island is just a desolate, kidney shaped piece of rock in the Arctic. Ian Austen, New York Times, 14 June 2022 Severodonetsk and the communities that surround it are growing more desolate by the day. Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, 31 May 2022 In the neighboring gallery, the brown sand had become a desolate, blood-red landscape. Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2022 And the glacial drip, drip, drip of ticket sales is only going to worsen as the box office heads for a near desolate stretch with hardly any new offerings from major studios on the horizon. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 14 Aug. 2022 Nye County, the country’s third largest by area, stretches from the strip malls on the outer margins of Las Vegas through desolate rangelands where cattle graze and the military trains pilots and practices missile-firing and bomb drops. Sam Metz, Anchorage Daily News, 29 July 2022 In one desolate village cemetery outside the capital, a local man showing visitors around recently pointed out the grave of a man who had been suspected of aiding the occupiers. Laura Kingstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2022 Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 30 Aug. 2022 Like any masterful monologue, one felt invited inside the mind behind that desolate yet brave voice. Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 3 June 2022 For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed. Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020 For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed. Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020 For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed. Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020 For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed. Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020 For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed. Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020 But by summer’s end, the early excitement had died down and many sidewalk tables were languishing unfilled, leaving neighborhood streets desolate rather than boisterous, North End restaurateurs said then. BostonGlobe.com, 28 July 2021 See More Word History
Adjective
Middle English desolat, desolate "deserted, lonely, distressed," borrowed from Latin dēsōlātus, past participle of dēsōlāre "to leave all alone, forsake, empty of inhabitants," from dē- de- + -sōlāre, verbal derivative of sōlus "lone, acting without a partner, lonely, deserted," of uncertain origin
Verb
Middle English desolaten (in past participle desolatid "deserted, ruined"), borrowed from Latin dēsōlātus, past participle of dēsōlāre "to leave all alone, forsake, empty of inhabitants" — more at desolate entry 1
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
desolate 1 of 2
adjective
desolate
2 of 2verb
desolate 1 of 2
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- bleak
- lonely
- dark
- somber
- darkening
- depressing
- depressive
- lonesome
- murky
- cold
- gray
- solemn
- miserable
- morbid
- cheerless
- forlorn
- wretched
- depressed
- godforsaken
- blue
- gloomy
- drear
- dreary
- black
- comfortless
- sullen
- disconsolate
- dismal
- sad
- morose
- chill
- sepulchral
- funereal
- glum
- grey
- lugubrious
- elegiac
- oppressive
- dire
- melancholy
- cloudy
- sunless
- tenebrous
- saturnine
- plutonian
- sombre
- desperate
- unhappy
- dejected
- hopeless
- dreich
- elegiacal
- dull
- mournful
- woebegone
- melancholic
- dim
- distressful
- grim
- tenebrific
- inconsolable
- Cimmerian
- despondent
- sorrowful
- woeful
- mirthless
- menacing
- negative
- upsetting
- down
- dispiriting
- drab
- discouraging
- distressing
- dismaying
- low
- discomfiting
- disheartening
- hangdog
- droopy
- pessimistic
- lamentable
- plaintive
- colorless
- dour
- threatening
- louring
- lowery
- lowering
- loury
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- bright
- cheerful
- friendly
- cheery
- comforting
- festive
- joyous
- joyful
- sunshiny
- gay
- merry
- cordial
- jolly
- buoyant
- blithe
- gay
- optimistic
- mirthful
- hopeful
- blithesome
- heartwarming
- cheering
- encouraging
- jocund
- lighthearted
- lightsome
Synonyms & Similar Words
- lonely
- lonesome
- deserted
- forlorn
- lone
- lorn
- solitary
- forsaken
- neglected
- abandoned
- forgotten
- friendless
- alone
- rejected
- unaccompanied
- solo
- only
- sole
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- accompanied
- attended
- escorted
Synonyms & Similar Words
- deserted
- abandoned
- disused
- derelict
- vacant
- forsaken
- forgotten
- vacated
- void
- rejected
- empty
- neglected
- waste
- untended
- discarded
- unattended
- ignored
- godforsaken
- shabby
- miserable
- junked
- castaway
- refuse
- idle
- wretched
- jettisoned
- cast-off
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- redeemed
- reclaimed
- saved
- recovered
- salvaged
- restored
- retrieved
- rescued
- reconditioned
- rehabbed
- rehabilitated
- repeopled
Synonyms & Similar Words
- barren
- impoverished
- bleak
- waste
- poor
- desert
- unfertile
- hardscrabble
- unproductive
- stark
- infertile
- bony
- dry
- inhospitable
- lifeless
- dead
- exhausted
- boney
- thirsty
- drained
- arid
- depleted
- spent
- reduced
- waterless
- uncultivable
- consumed
- debilitated
- diminished
- sere
- enfeebled
- droughty
- bankrupted
- parched
- expended
- sunbaked
- rainless
- untillable
- dried-up
- lessened
- dehydrated
- used up
- sear
- baked
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- fertile
- rich
- lush
- productive
- fruitful
- luxuriant
- arable
- green
- verdant
- tillable
- sylvan
desolate
2 of 2verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- ruin
- destroy
- devastate
- wreck
- demolish
- shatter
- waste
- smash
- damage
- overcome
- ravage
- mar
- tear down
- total
- raze
- decimate
- wrack
- annihilate
- nuke
- vaporize
- extinguish
- pull down
- pulverize
- erode
- cream
- cripple
- rub out
- defeat
- dismantle
- blast
- kill
- best
- subdue
- crush
- spoil
- conquer
- break
- do in
- deteriorate
- remove
- injure
- disintegrate
- harm
- disfigure
- master
- rout
- dilapidate
- scour
- impair
- trim
- lick
- scotch
- despoil
- dynamite
- havoc
- surmount
- slaughter
- thrash
- mutilate
- plunder
- deface
- blow up
- skunk
- clobber
- obliterate
- eradicate
- vitiate
- wash out
- trounce
- dissolve
- gut
- wipe out
- take down
- wallop
- pillage
- overbear
- mangle
- murder
- beat
- blot out
- cut down
- trash
- sack
- whip
- massacre
- disassemble
- loot
- exterminate
- win (against)
- unbuild
- overmatch
- prevail (over)
- triumph (over)
- extirpate
- slay
- fell
- drub
- assassinate
- unmake
- sweep (away)
- liquidate
- efface
- kill off
- expunge
- trample
- vandalize
- undo
- butcher
- take out
- dispatch
- wear (away)
- execute
- zap
- mow (down)
- snuff (out)
- stamp (out)
- root (out)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- build
- construct
- erect
- patch
- rear
- repair
- set up
- create
- found
- raise
- mend
- fix
- form
- shape
- produce
- make
- protect
- establish
- bring about
- assemble
- forge
- frame
- preserve
- save
- fashion
- manufacture
- rebuild
- constitute
- invent
- put up
- mold
- revamp
- restore
- organize
- recondition
- reconstruct
- institute
- fabricate
- conserve
- doctor
- father
- renovate
- remodel
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of desolate are bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, and gloomy. While all these words mean "devoid of cheer or comfort," desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.
The words bleak and desolate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.
The words cheerless and desolate can be used in similar contexts, but cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.
In some situations, the words dismal and desolate are roughly equivalent. However, dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.
Although the words dreary and desolate have much in common, dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.
The meanings of gloomy and desolate largely overlap; however, gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.