What does desolate mean?

Definitions for desolate
ˈdɛs ə lɪt; -ˌleɪtdes·o·late

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word desolate.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. bare, barren, bleak, desolate, starkadjective

    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"

  2. desolateverb

    crushed by grief

    "depressed and desolate of soul"; "a low desolate wail"

  3. abandon, forsake, desolate, desertverb

    leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

    "The mother deserted her children"

  4. depopulate, desolateverb

    reduce in population

    "The epidemic depopulated the countryside"

  5. lay waste to, waste, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourgeverb

    cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly

    "The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion"

Wiktionary

  1. desolateverb

    To deprive of inhabitants.

  2. desolateverb

    To devastate or lay waste somewhere.

  3. desolateverb

    To abandon or forsake something.

  4. desolateverb

    To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.

  5. desolateadjective

    Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.

  6. desolateadjective

    Barren and lifeless.

  7. desolateadjective

    Made unfit for habitation or use.

  8. desolateadjective

    Dismal or dreary.

  9. desolateadjective

    Sad, forlorn and hopeless.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Desolateadjective

    Etymology: desolatus, Latin.

    Let us seek some desolate shade, and there
    Weep our sad bosoms empty. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    This hero appears at first in a desolate island, sitting upon the side of the sea. William Broome, on Epic Poetry.

    This city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant. Jer. xxvi.

  2. To DESOLATEverb

    To deprive of inhabitants; to lay waste.

    Etymology: desolo, Latin.

    The island of Atlantis was not swallowed by an earthquake, but was desolated by a particular deluge; for earthquakes are seldom in those parts: but, on the other side, they have such pouring rivers, as the rivers of Asia, Africa, and Europe are but brooks to them. Francis Bacon, Essay 59.

    Thick around
    Thunders the sport of those, who with the gun
    And dog, impatient bounding at the shot,
    Worse than the season, desolate the fields. James Thomson, Winter.

ChatGPT

  1. desolate

    Desolate refers to a place that is deserted, uninhabited, and often in a state of disrepair or abandonment. It can also describe a person who is feeling extremely sad, lonely or forlorn.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Desolateadjective

    destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house

  2. Desolateadjective

    laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars

  3. Desolateadjective

    left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless

  4. Desolateadjective

    lost to shame; dissolute

  5. Desolateadjective

    destitute of; lacking in

  6. Desolateverb

    to make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the flood

  7. Desolateverb

    to lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a city

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Desolate

    des′o-lāt, v.t. to make solitary: to deprive of inhabitants: to lay waste.—adj. solitary: destitute of inhabitants: laid waste.—adv. Des′olately.—ns. Des′olateness; Desolat′er, -or; Desolā′tion, waste: destruction: a place desolated.—adj. Des′olatory. [L. desolāre, -ātumde, inten., and solāre, to make alone—solus, alone.]

Matched Categories

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of desolate in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of desolate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of desolate in a Sentence

  1. Sanjay Gupta:

    It was sparse, desolate, and for most requirements we would have to go to New Delhi, it was a distance away from everything that we needed.

  2. George Eliot:

    No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence.

  3. Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

    How many desolate creatures on the earth have learnt the simple dues of fellowship and social comfort, in a hospital.

  4. Arthur O'Shaunessey:

    We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dream. Wandering by lone sea breakers, and sitting by desolate streams. World losers and world forsakers, for whom the pale moon gleams. Yet we are movers and the shakers of the world forever it seems.

  5. Benjamin Weiss:

    The most surprising thing that's come out of these images is the potential opportunity to catch the time when Jezero Crater transitioned from an Earth-like habitable environment, to this desolate landscape wasteland we see now, these boulder beds may be records of this transition, and we haven't seen this in other places on Mars.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

desolate#10000#36359#100000

Translations for desolate

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • مهجورArabic
  • пуст, необитаван, безлюден, обезлюдявам, необитаем, безутешен, безнадежден, опустошавамBulgarian
  • trostlos, verlassen, ödeGerman
  • solitarioSpanish
  • hüljatud, kõleEstonian
  • خالی از سکنهPersian
  • hävittää, autioittaa, hylätä, masentaaFinnish
  • désoler, ravager, désoléFrench
  • सुनसान, निर्जन, बंजर, उजाड़, वीरानHindi
  • elhagyatott, kihalt, lakhatatlan, reménytelenHungarian
  • բարձիթողի, լքված, ամայի, անմխիթար, անբնակ, թշվառArmenian
  • terpencilIndonesian
  • nero, desolato, deserto, abbandonatoItalian
  • שומםHebrew
  • 寂しい, 寂れたJapanese
  • ನಿರ್ಜನKannada
  • tūheaMāori
  • pustkowiemPolish
  • deșert, abandonatRomanian
  • оскудевший, упадочный, скудный, безнадëжный, покинутый, пустынный, необитаемыйRussian
  • தனித்துவிடப்பட்டTamil
  • నిర్మానుష్యమైనTelugu
  • спустошенийUkrainian
  • וויסטYiddish
  • 荒凉Chinese

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"desolate." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/desolate>.

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