desolate

barren, devastated: a treeless, desolate landscape; deserted; uninhabited; solitary; lonely; feeling abandoned by friends or by hope; forlorn; dismal; gloomy: desolate prospects

Not to be confused with:

dissolute – indifferent to moral restraints; given to immoral or improper conduct; licentious; dissipated; corrupt, loose, debauched, wanton: dissolute actions of a person with no conscience

des·o·late

(dĕs′ə-lĭt, dĕz′-)

adj.

a. Devoid of inhabitants; deserted: "streets which were usually so thronged now grown desolate" (Daniel Defoe).

b. Barren; lifeless: the rocky, desolate surface of the moon.

2. Feeling, showing, causing, or expressing sadness or loneliness. See Synonyms at sad.

tr.v. (-lāt′) des·o·lat·ed, des·o·lat·ing, des·o·lates

1. To rid or deprive of inhabitants.

2. To lay waste; devastate: "Here we have no wars to desolate our fields" (Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur).

3. To forsake; abandon.

4. To make lonely, forlorn, or wretched.

[Middle English desolat, from Latin dēsōlātus, past participle of dēsōlāre, to abandon : dē-, de- + sōlus, alone; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.]

des′o·late·ly adv.

des′o·late·ness n.

des′o·lat′er, des′o·la′tor n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

desolate

adj

1. uninhabited; deserted

2. made uninhabitable; laid waste; devastated

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

4. gloomy or dismal; depressing

vb (tr)

5. to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate

6. to make barren or lay waste; devastate

7. to make wretched or forlorn

8. to forsake or abandon

[C14: from Latin dēsōlāre to leave alone, from de- + sōlāre to make lonely, lay waste, from sōlus alone]

ˈdesoˌlater, ˈdesoˌlator n

ˈdesolately adv

ˈdesolateness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

des•o•late

(adj. ˈdɛs ə lɪt; v. -ˌleɪt)

adj., v. -lat•ed, -lat•ing. adj.

1. barren or laid waste; devastated: a treeless, desolate landscape.

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

3. feeling loveless, friendless, or hopeless; forlorn.

4. dreary; dismal: desolate prospects.

v.t.

5. to lay waste; devastate.

6. to deprive of inhabitants; depopulate.

7. to make disconsolate; sadden.

8. to forsake or abandon; desert.

[1325–75; < Latin dēsōlātus forsaken, past participle of dēsōlāre=dē- de- + sōlāre to make lonely, derivative of sōlus sole¹; see -ate¹]

des′o•late•ly, adv.

des′o•late•ness, n.

des′o•lat`er, des′o•la`tor, n.

lonely, lonesome, forlorn, desolate - Lonely adds to solitary a suggestion of longing for companionship, while lonesome heightens the suggestion of sadness; forlorn and desolate are even more isolated and sad.

desolate

Past participle: desolated
Gerund: desolating

Imperative
desolate
desolate

Present
I desolate
you desolate
he/she/it desolates
we desolate
you desolate
they desolate

Preterite
I desolated
you desolated
he/she/it desolated
we desolated
you desolated
they desolated

Present Continuous
I am desolating
you are desolating
he/she/it is desolating
we are desolating
you are desolating
they are desolating

Present Perfect
I have desolated
you have desolated
he/she/it has desolated
we have desolated
you have desolated
they have desolated

Past Continuous
I was desolating
you were desolating
he/she/it was desolating
we were desolating
you were desolating
they were desolating

Past Perfect
I had desolated
you had desolated
he/she/it had desolated
we had desolated
you had desolated
they had desolated

Future
I will desolate
you will desolate
he/she/it will desolate
we will desolate
you will desolate
they will desolate

Future Perfect
I will have desolated
you will have desolated
he/she/it will have desolated
we will have desolated
you will have desolated
they will have desolated

Future Continuous
I will be desolating
you will be desolating
he/she/it will be desolating
we will be desolating
you will be desolating
they will be desolating

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been desolating
you have been desolating
he/she/it has been desolating
we have been desolating
you have been desolating
they have been desolating

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been desolating
you will have been desolating
he/she/it will have been desolating
we will have been desolating
you will have been desolating
they will have been desolating

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been desolating
you had been desolating
he/she/it had been desolating
we had been desolating
you had been desolating
they had been desolating

Conditional
I would desolate
you would desolate
he/she/it would desolate
we would desolate
you would desolate
they would desolate

Past Conditional
I would have desolated
you would have desolated
he/she/it would have desolated
we would have desolated
you would have desolated
they would have desolated

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Verb	1.	desolate - leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children" desert, forsake, abandon leave - go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness; "She left a mess when she moved out"; "His good luck finally left him"; "her husband left her after 20 years of marriage"; "she wept thinking she had been left behind" expose - abandon by leaving out in the open air; "The infant was exposed by the teenage mother"; "After Christmas, many pets get abandoned" walk out - leave suddenly, often as an expression of disapproval; "She walked out on her husband and children" ditch - forsake; "ditch a lover" maroon, strand - leave stranded or isolated with little hope of rescue; "the travellers were marooned"
	2.	desolate - reduce in population; "The epidemic depopulated the countryside" depopulate shrink, reduce - reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink the sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?"
	3.	desolate - cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly; "The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion" devastate, lay waste to, ravage, scourge, waste ruin, destroy - destroy completely; damage irreparably; "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up" ruin - reduce to ruins; "The country lay ruined after the war"
Adj.	1.	desolate - 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" barren, bleak, stark, bare inhospitable - unfavorable to life or growth; "the barren inhospitable desert"; "inhospitable mountain areas"
	2.	desolate - crushed by grief; "depressed and desolate of soul"; "a low desolate wail" disconsolate, inconsolable, unconsolable - sad beyond comforting; incapable of being consoled; "inconsolable when her son died"

desolate

adjective

1. uninhabited, deserted, bare, waste, wild, ruined, bleak, solitary, barren, dreary, godforsaken, unfrequented a desolate, godforsaken place
uninhabited inhabited, populous

2. miserable, depressed, lonely, gloomy, dismal, melancholy, forlorn, bereft, dejected, despondent, downcast, wretched, disconsolate, down in the dumps (informal), cheerless, comfortless, companionless He was desolate without her.
miserable happy, cheerful, joyous, light-hearted

verb

1. deject, depress, distress, discourage, dismay, grieve, daunt, dishearten I was desolated by the news.
deject encourage, cheer, nourish, hearten

2. destroy, ruin, devastate, ravage, lay low, lay waste, despoil, depopulate A great famine desolated the country.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

desolate

adjective

1. Empty of people:

deserted, forlorn, godforsaken, lonely, lonesome, unfrequented.

2. Dark and depressing:

black, bleak, blue, cheerless, dark, dismal, dreary, gloomy, glum, joyless, somber, tenebrific.

3. Having been given up and left alone:

abandoned, bereft, derelict, deserted, forlorn, forsaken, lorn.

4. Dejected due to the awareness of being alone:

forlorn, lonely, lonesome, lorn.

5. In low spirits:

blue, dejected, depressed, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted, dull, dysphoric, gloomy, heavy-hearted, low, melancholic, melancholy, sad, spiritless, tristful, unhappy, wistful.

Idiom: down at the mouth.

verb

To destroy completely as or as if by conquering:

devastate, ravage, waste.

Idiom: lay waste.

Translations

بائِس، تَعيسمُقْفِر، قاحِل

deprimovanýpustýskleslý

forladtfortvivletødetrøstesløsulykkelig

desolat öde trostlos unwirtlich verlassen

έρημος

hüljatudkõle

délaissé désert désolé morne sombre

vigasztalan

eyîileguróhamingjusamur

desolato abbandonato affliggere deserto desolare

negyvenamasnuniokojimasvienišumas

neapdzīvotsnelaimīgspamestsvientulīgs

alene og forlatt

ıssız tenha yapayalnız

凄凉的荒凉的

desolate

A. [ˈdesəlɪt] ADJ [place] → desolado, desierto; [outlook, future] → desolador; [person] (= griefstricken) → desolado, afligido; (= friendless) → solitario

B. [ˈdesəleɪt] VT [+ place] → asolar, arrasar; [+ person] → desolar, afligir
we were utterly desolated → quedamos profundamente desolados or afligidos

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

desolate

[ˈdɛsələt] adj

[place] → désolé(e)

[person] → affligé(e)

desolate

adj

place (= bleak) → trostlos; (= devastated) → verwüstet; landscape → trostlos, öde; beauty → einsam

(= lonely, sad) person → trostlos; feeling, cry → verzweifelt; she looked desolate → sie wirkte trostlos; he was desolate without her → ohne sie fühlte er sich einsam und verlassen

vt (liter) place → verwüsten

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

desolate

[ˈdɛsəlɪt] adj (place) → desolato/a, deserto/a; (building) → abbandonato/a; (outlook, future) → nero/a; (person, grief-stricken) → affranto/a (dal dolore), desolato/a; (friendless) → abbandonato/a da tutti

desolate

(ˈdesələt) adjective

1. (of landscapes, areas etc) very lonely or barren. desolate moorland.

2. very sad, lonely and unhappy.

desoˈlation noun

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

We still dwell in the Valley of the Shadow, lurk in its desolate places, peering from brambles and thickets at its mad, malign inhabitants.

View in context

Trade disappeared; whole streets were left desolate. Harbors, once filled with shipping, were destroyed by the unresisted accumulation of sand.

View in context

-- for never sorrow Shall dawn upon him desolate!) And round about his home the glory That blushed and bloomed, Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.

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The Distinguished Naturalist made no immediate reply, but later, as in the shades of night they journeyed through the desolate vastness of the Great Lone Land, he broke the silence:

View in context

Let me call back to the desolate gardens the fair forms that are gone, and their soft voices blessing you will bring to your breast a never failing joy.

View in context

In a silent, desolate spot, In the night stone-frozen and clear, The wanderer's hand on the sail Is gripped by the fingers of fear.

View in context

Each, in its utmost development, supposes a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one individual dependent for the food of his affections and spiritual fife upon another: each leaves the passionate lover, or the no less passionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his subject.

View in context

The light of his faith quite put out, and his affections made desolate, he had clung with all the force of his nature to his work and his money; and like all objects to which a man devotes himself, they had fashioned him into correspondence with themselves.

View in context

I considered how impossible it was to preserve my life in so desolate a place, and how miserable my end must be: yet found myself so listless and desponding, that I had not the heart to rise; and before I could get spirits enough to creep out of my cave, the day was far advanced.

View in context

Taking off my turban I bound myself securely to it with the linen in the hope that the roc, when it took flight next morning, would bear me away with it from the desolate island.

View in context

Still slower, until the dim outlines of a desolate beach grew visible.

View in context

It was strange to see the place quite tranquil, quite desolate under the hot blue sky, with the smoke and little threads of flame going straight up into the heat of the afternoon.