1
as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
a desolate house abandoned many years ago
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lonely
sad from lack of companionship or separation from others
he was less desolate after adopting a rescue dog
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3
as in deserted
left unoccupied or unused
a desolate mining town that had its brief heyday more than a century ago
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4
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
wild, desolate plains on which only the hardiest could survive
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as in to ruin
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
totally desolated the city with aerial bombs
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of desolate
Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 2 Mar. 2025
Orphaned at 3 years old and robbed of her fortune, she’s dragged aboard a ship sailing for New France by her guardian, only to be abandoned on a desolate island.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb. 2025
Colorado’s quadrant of the Four Corners is filled with secrets of the past in its rugged and sometimes desolate desert landscape.
—Jennifer Broome, The Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2025
In video after video, young people complained about missing their high school graduations and senior proms, of the desolate college campuses that welcomed them and the increasingly precarious economy that waited for them on the other side.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Adjective
This powerful film tells of the friendship between a young man and a peasant farmer who has devoted his life to planting trees throughout his desolate homeland.
—Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 2 Mar. 2025
Orphaned at 3 years old and robbed of her fortune, she’s dragged aboard a ship sailing for New France by her guardian, only to be abandoned on a desolate island.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb. 2025
Colorado’s quadrant of the Four Corners is filled with secrets of the past in its rugged and sometimes desolate desert landscape.
—Jennifer Broome, The Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2025
In video after video, young people complained about missing their high school graduations and senior proms, of the desolate college campuses that welcomed them and the increasingly precarious economy that waited for them on the other side.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolate
Adjective
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All of these episodes have different types of endings: There’s bleak to total cliffhanger to sentimental.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Apr. 2025
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Some practical frameworks and strategies enable leaders to maintain stability, foster engagement, and position their teams for success even when the economic outlook appears bleak.—
Kara Dennison, SPHR, CPRW, EC,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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This keeps us lonely at a time when the loneliness public health crisis is at an all-time high.—
Priya Vulchi,
Time,
9 Apr. 2025
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Ro, now a police officer, needs help investigating the death 22 years earlier of their classmate, Ricky, killed in a hit-and-run on a lonely county road.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Charlie Parker’s Favorite Painting (1946) indicates Abercrombie’s engagement with social issues: a yellow noose, nearly fluorescent against a dishwater sky, dangles from a barren tree—an oblique lament from the doggedly antiracist Abercrombie.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
ARTnews.com,
26 Mar. 2025
-
Mass Effect's core loop doesn't benefit from huge barren landscapes that are devoid of detail.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Justin Champagnie hit a 3-pointer, the Heat had a backcourt violation and then Carrington ruined Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s 40-point game by dropping this dagger on him.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
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However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Tanasia Kenney,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Editor’s tip: Niacinamide is a multitasker that blurs the look of dark spots, evens your skin tone, and balances your complexion.—
Christa Joanna Lee,
Allure,
15 Apr. 2025
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And so by some sociologists, camp is thought to be this form of dark humor serving as a coping mechanism to historical marginalization.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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On his release, Stern went on to spend the 1950s ping-ponging between New York and California, for a time living on a disused laundry barge in Sausalito.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
3 Mar. 2025
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One of the most powerful scenes in Sugarcane takes place in a disused barn where, over a period of decades, Indigenous children worked under the lash.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Criminal justice scholars say that when scores based on immutable facts are weighted so heavily in parole decisions, prisoners from impoverished, racially segregated communities are more likely to be hurt.—
Richard A. Webster,
ProPublica,
10 Apr. 2025
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The once-vacant lot across the street from her childhood playground on Washington Avenue is now home to Wilcox Academy, an early learning center that represents a powerful investment in a historically impoverished community.—
Raymond Pierce,
Forbes.com,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The gangs have resumed kidnappings, while burning hospitals and destroying schools.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
25 Mar. 2025
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Meanwhile, over 100 government offices and other structures have been forced to shut their doors, relocate or have been destroyed.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
25 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolate. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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