desolate
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desolate¹
- /ˈdɛs.ə.lət/
Where it comes from
From Middle English desolat(e). See Etymology 2 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
adjective more desolate · most desolate
-
Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.
a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house
Similar: peopleless, uninhabited, abandoned, derelict, desert, deserted, desolate, discarded, dropped, forlorn, forsaken, high and dry · Opposite: inhabited, populated
-
Barren and lifeless.
Similar: dearthful, scrunty, sere, sterile · Opposite: fertile
-
Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc.
desolate altars
Similar: devastated, empty, forsaken, ravaged, wasted
-
Dismal or dreary.
Similar: bleak, gloomy, cheerless, comfortless, dark, morose, depressing, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful · Opposite: cheerful
-
Sad, forlorn and hopeless.
He was left desolate by the early death of his wife.
Similar: miserable, sorrowful, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless, chopfallen, crestfallen · Opposite: comforting
desolate²
- /ˈdɛsəleɪt/
Where it comes from
From Middle English desolaten (“to desolate”), from desolat(e) (“desolate”), from Latin dēsōlātus, perfect passive participle of dēsōlō (“to leave alone, make lonely, lay waste, desolate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more.
verb desolates · desolating · desolated
-
To deprive of inhabitants.
If you consider well of the People of the West-Indies, it is very probable, that they are a newer or younger People, than the People of the old World. And it is much more likely, that the destruction that hath heretofore been there, was not by Earthquakes, […] but rather, it was Desolated by a parti
Similar: depeople, depopulate, dispeople, unpeople, unpopulate
-
To devastate or lay waste somewhere.
Then Moath pointed where a cloud
Of Locusts, from the desolated fields
Of Syria, wing’d their way.
Similar: devastate, ravage, destroy, annihilate, aerosolize, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto, dash, decompose
-
To abandon or forsake something.
It is not to be supposed that when Cush left Armenia, he left it desolate, and that a rich and long settled country was abandoned altogether; for it would be an absurd way of founding an universal empire, to desolate one country in order to people another.
Similar: give up, relinquish, vacate, withsake
-
To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.
It is not altogether uncommon to hear a reader whose heart has been desolated by the poignancy of a narrative complain that the writer is unemotional.
Similar: deject, get down, aggrieve, attrist, begloom, begrieve, besorrow, grieve, pain, bring down, come down on, contristate
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: forsaken, forlorn, lorn, wasted, godforsaken, inconsolable, disconsolate, bleak, devastate, inhospitable, devastated, barren, waste, bare, stark, destroyed
Translations
Every language
adj deserted
| Español | desierto |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 荒れた areta, 寂れた sabireta |
| 中文 | 荒涼 /荒凉 huāngliáng |
| हिन्दी | सुनसान sunsān, निर्जन nirjan, वीरान vīrān |
| Português | desolado, deserto, inabitado, ermo, desabitado |
| Français | désert |
| Deutsch | verlassen |
| Italiano | desolato, deserto |
| Ελληνικά | έρημος érimos, ερημωμένος erimoménos, παρατημένος paratiménos |
| Română | deșert, abandonat |
| Русский | пусты́нный pustýnnyj, необитаемый neobitajemyj, поки́нутый pokínutyj |
| العربية | مُقْفِر muqfir, مَهْجُور mahjūr |
adj barren, lifeless
| Español | desierto |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 荒れた areta, 寂れた sabireta |
| हिन्दी | बंजर bañjar |
| Português | desolado |
| Ελληνικά | έρημος érimos, άγονος ágonos |
| Русский | оскуде́вший oskudévšij, упа́дочный upádočnyj |
adj unfit for habitation
| हिन्दी | उजाड़ ujāṛ |
|---|---|
| Português | desolado |
| Deutsch | verlassen |
| Italiano | abbandonato |
| Ελληνικά | ακατοίκητος akatoíkitos |
adj dismal
| 日本語 | 寂しい sabishī |
|---|---|
| Português | desolado |
| Deutsch | öde |
| Italiano | nero |
| Ελληνικά | μελαγχολικός melancholikós, ζοφερός zoferós |
| Русский | ску́дный skúdnyj |
adj hopeless
| 日本語 | 絶望的な zetsubōteki na |
|---|---|
| Português | desolado, devastado |
| Deutsch | trostlos |
| Ελληνικά | απελπιστικός apelpistikós |
| Русский | безнадёжный beznadjóžnyj |
verb to devastate or lay waste
| Ελληνικά | ερημώνω erimóno |
|---|
verb to abandon or forsake
| Ελληνικά | εγκαταλείπω egkataleípo |
|---|
Talk about this word "desolate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/desolate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. desolate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/desolate "desolate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/desolate.Cite this
@misc{desolate_2026,
title = {desolate},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/desolate},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
