desolate meaning

desolate as an adjective

1. 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

   Synonyms: bare, barren, bleak, stark

   Similar: inhospitable

2. crushed by grief
   • depressed and desolate of soul
   • a low desolate wail

   Similar: inconsolable

desolate as a verb

1. leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
   • The mother deserted her children

   Synonyms: abandon, forsake, desert

   Type of: leave

   Kinds: expose, walk out, ditch, maroon

   Related forms: desolation

2. reduce in population
   • The epidemic depopulated the countryside

   Synonyms: depopulate

   Type of: shrink

   Related forms: desolation

3. cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
   • The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion

   Synonyms: lay waste to, waste, devastate, ravage, scourge

   Type of: destroy

   Kinds: ruin

   Related forms: desolation

desolate in a sentence

• The town was desolate after the flood.
• It was a thoroughly desolate landscape, without a soul in sight.
• Martino was walking through a desolate place.
• Paul lived in a completely desolate area.
• Kalman arrived at that desolate location.

How to pronounce desolate

desolate is pronounced /ˈdɛsələt/ in American English. It has 3 syllables, with the stress on the first syllable.