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DESOLATE
desolate
(adjective) crushed by grief; “depressed and desolate of soul”; “a low desolate wail”
bare, barren, bleak, desolate, stark
(adjective) providing no shelter or sustenance; “bare rocky hills”; “barren lands”; “the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes”; “the desolate surface of the moon”; “a stark landscape”
depopulate, desolate
(verb) reduce in population; “The epidemic depopulated the countryside”
abandon, forsake, desolate, desert
(verb) leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; “The mother deserted her children”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
desolate (comparative more desolate, superlative most desolate)
Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.
Barren and lifeless.
Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc.
Dismal or dreary.
Sad, forlorn and hopeless.
Verb
desolate (third-person singular simple present desolates, present participle desolating, simple past and past participle desolated)
To deprive of inhabitants.
To devastate or lay waste somewhere.
To abandon or forsake something.
To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.
Source: Wiktionary
Des"o*late, a. Etym: [L. desolatus, p. p. of desolare to leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus alone. See Sole, a.]
1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house. I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. Jer. ix. 11. And the silvery marish flowers that throng The desolate creeks and pools among. Tennyson.
2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars.
3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless. Have mercy upon, for I am desolate. Ps. xxv. 16. Voice of the poor and desolate. Keble.
4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] Chaucer.
5. Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.] I were right now of tales desolate. Chaucer.
Syn.
– Desert; uninhabited; lonely; waste.
Des"o*late, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desolated; p. pr. & vb. n. Desolating.]
1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the flood.
2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a city. Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war. Sparks.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
2 April 2025
COVERT
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
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