desolate
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdɛsələt/
ipa: /ˈdɛsəleɪt/
Forms: form: more desolate
form: most desolate
Etymology: From Middle English desolat(e). See Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.
Senses: examples: text: a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house
text: I will make Jerusalem […] a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 9:11:
text: And the silvery marish flowers that throng / The desolate creeks and pools among.
ref: 1830, Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Dying Swan:
synonyms: word: peopleless
word: uninhabited
word: abandoned
word: derelict
word: deserted
word: desolate
word: discarded
word: dropped
word: forlorn
word: forsaken
word: high and dry
word: left behind
word: orphaned
word: beingless
word: desert
word: deserted
word: desolate
word: disinhabited
word: inhabitantless
word: inhabited
word: lifeless
word: peopleless
word: solitary
word: tenantless
word: unhabited
word: uninhabited
word: unoccupied
word: unpeopled
word: unpopulated
word: untenanted
word: vacant
word: wasteful
glosses: Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.
synonyms: dearthful
scrunty
sere
sterile
glosses: Barren and lifeless.
examples: text: desolate altars
synonyms: devastated
empty
forsaken
ravaged
wasted
glosses: Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc.
synonyms: word: bleak
word: gloomy
word: cheerless
word: comfortless
word: bleak
word: dark
word: depressing
word: desolate
word: dire
word: disconsolate
word: dismal
word: doleful
word: dolesome
word: drear
word: drearisome
word: dreary
word: dreich
word: forlorn
word: gayless
word: gray
word: gloomsome
word: gloomy
word: grim
word: joyless
word: lack-laughter
word: lugubrious
word: melancholy
word: mirthless
word: miserable
word: no joke
word: saturnine
word: solemn
word: somber
word: sombre
word: spiritless
word: sullen
word: sunless
word: uncheerful
word: uncheery
word: unhappy
word: unmerry
word: wintry
word: woeful
glosses: Dismal or dreary.
examples: text: He was left desolate by the early death of his wife.
text: voice of the poor and desolate
ref: 1827, [John Keble], The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
text: Any help and suggestions from our gay brothers and sisters would be appreciated from this isolated camp. We need some contacts: lawyers, organizations, or people who are concerned enough to help. We are two desolate, suppressed lesbians! We are seeking help from anyone who will help us fight for our rights.
ref: 1983 December 10, Mike Riegle, quoting Lorrie Ong and Jackie Jackson, “Sexual Politics of "Crime": Inside and Out”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 21, page 5:
synonyms: word: miserable
word: sorrowful
word: atrabiliary
word: atrabilious
word: blitheless
word: dispirited
word: blue
word: bummed out
word: chapfallen
word: cheerless
word: chopfallen
word: crestfallen
word: cut up
word: damp
word: dejected
word: depressed
word: despondent
word: disgruntled
word: disconsolate
word: disheartened
word: dismal
word: doleful
word: dolesome
word: down
word: down in the dumps
word: down in the mouth
word: downcast
word: downhearted
word: downsome
word: dull
word: elegiac
word: elegious
word: forlorn
word: gloomy
word: glum
word: grief-stricken
word: grieving
word: heavy-hearted
word: heartsore
word: heartsick
word: inconsolable
word: infelicitous
word: jawfallen
word: joyless
word: lachrymose
word: lamentful
word: low
word: low-spirited
word: lugubrious
word: lumpish
word: melancholic
word: melancholy
word: miserable
word: moody
word: mopey
word: morose
word: mournful
word: passionate
word: plaintive
word: querulous
word: sad
word: saddened
word: saturnine
word: shattered
word: solemn
word: sombre
word: sorrowful
word: sorrow-ridden
word: sorrowsome
word: spiritless
word: sullen
word: threnetic
word: threnetical
word: triste
word: tristful
word: uncheerful
word: uncheery
word: unconsolable
word: unhappy
word: unlively
word: wistful
word: woe
word: woebegone
word: woeful
word: wretched
glosses: Sad, forlorn and hopeless.
Derived terms: desolately
desolateness
desolater
desolatory