desolation
Americannoun
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an act or instance of destroying or devastating land, population, community, etc.
The war’s desolation of the land destroyed years of hard and hopeful work.
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the state of being destroyed or devastated, as land, population, community, etc..
The utter desolation of the Western Front was captured in unforgettable photographs.
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dreariness; barrenness.
The poet fashions a mood of desolation and despair in his works.
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deprivation of companionship; loneliness.
Some homesteaders could not endure the desolation of life on the prairie, and returned to the city.
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sorrow; grief; woe.
She was so deep in her desolation, we don’t know if our words of comfort reached her.
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a desolate place.
The town was once a desolation.
noun
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the act of desolating or the state of being desolated; ruin or devastation
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solitary misery; wretchedness
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a desolate region; barren waste
Etymology
Origin of desolation
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English desolacioun, dis(s)olacioun, from Late Latin dēsōlātiōn- (stem of dēsōlātiō ) “abandonment,” equivalent to dēsōlāt(us) desolate ( def. ) + -iōn- -ion ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He remarked that “the desolation of the city, and the mystery that hung over it, all created an interest higher, if possible, than I had ever felt among the ruins of the Old World.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
This was particularly the case with the desert, whose desolation and desperation gave shape to the film's third act and the journey its characters were on.
From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026
The desolation of Kristofferson's downbeat delivery tells you this song is about much more than a bad hangover.
From BBC • Sep. 30, 2024
The blistering heat — with an average high temperature that’s more than 100 degrees four months of the year — only heightens the sense of desolation.
From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2024
We go about our business in the sight of the desolation.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
