desolate

American  

[des-uh-lit, des-uh-leyt] / ˈdɛs ə lɪt, ˈdɛs əˌleɪt /

adjective

1. barren or laid waste; devastated.

   a treeless, desolate landscape.

   Synonyms:

   bleak

2. deprived or destitute of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited.

   Synonyms:

   remote

3. solitary; lonely.

   a desolate life.

4. having the feeling of being abandoned by friends or by hope; forlorn.

   Synonyms:

   hopeless, cheerless, inconsolable, woeful, woebegone, wretched, miserable, lost, lonesome

   Antonyms:

   happy, delighted

5. dreary; dismal; gloomy.

   desolate prospects.

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verb (used with object)

desolated, desolating

1. to lay waste; devastate.

   Synonyms:

   ruin, ravage

2. to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate.

3. to make disconsolate.

   Synonyms:

   depress, sadden

4. to forsake or abandon.

   Synonyms:

   desert

desolate British  

adjective

1. uninhabited; deserted

2. made uninhabitable; laid waste; devastated

3. without friends, hope, or encouragement; forlorn, wretched, or abandoned

4. gloomy or dismal; depressing

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verb

1. to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate

2. to make barren or lay waste; devastate

3. to make wretched or forlorn

4. to forsake or abandon

Related Words

Desolate, disconsolate, forlorn suggest one who is in a sad and wretched condition. The desolate person is deprived of human consolation, relationships, or presence: desolate and despairing. The disconsolate person is aware of the efforts of others to console and comfort, but is unable to be relieved or cheered by them: She remained disconsolate even in the midst of friends. The forlorn person is lost, deserted, or forsaken by friends: wretched and forlorn in a strange city.

Other Word Forms

• desolately adverb
• desolateness noun
• desolater noun
• desolator noun
• quasi-desolate adjective
• quasi-desolately adverb

Etymology

Origin of desolate

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin dēsōlātus “forsaken,” past participle of dēsōlāre, from dē- de- + sōlāre “to make lonely” (derivative of sōlus sole ¹ )

Explanation

If you feel alone, left out, and devastated, you feel desolate. A deserted, empty, depressing place can be desolate too. If you know the word deserted, you have a clue to the meaning of desolate, a grim word that can describe feelings and places. When a person feels desolate, he feels deserted, lonely, hopeless, and sad. When a location is desolate, there's almost nothing there. Think of a rundown cabin in the middle of nowhere, with no running water and no stores or other people anywhere. That's a desolate setting. Being in a desolate place usually makes people feel desolate.

Example Sentences

On de-boarding, the last station bore the look of a desolate Soviet-era structure rather than a bustling train terminal in a city where crowds typically jostle for space.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

It resembles a space mission, with an intrepid rover traversing desolate distant terrain.

From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026

It isn’t perfect symmetry—Indiana football was much more desolate than Nebraska hoops, and now the Hoosiers are roaring atop college football entering Friday’s playoff semifinal against Oregon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

It looked desolate and black — destroyed businesses, block after block of homes burned to the ground, the mountains behind denuded and black as coal.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

If Annabelle ran on US Route 12 and not the desolate 200, she’d be facing blind curves, and navigating tight spaces next to guardrails and steep, forested cliffs.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Related Words

• bare
• bleak
• derelict
• dreary
• empty
• isolated
• lonely
• lonesome
• uninhabited