desert

1 of 4

noun (1)

des·​ert ˈde-zərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
Synonyms of desertnext
1
: arid land with usually sparse vegetation
especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually
2
: an area of water apparently devoid of life
3
: a desolate or forbidding area
lost in a desert of doubt
4
archaic : a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract
desertic
de-ˈzər-tik How to pronounce desert (audio)
adjective
desertlike
ˈde-zərt-ˌlīk How to pronounce desert (audio)
adjective

desert

2 of 4

adjective

des·​ert ˈde-zərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied
a desert island
2
: of or relating to a desert (see desert entry 1)
3
archaic : forsaken

desert

3 of 4

verb

de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
deserted; deserting; deserts

transitive verb

1
: to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return
desert a town
2
a
: to leave in the lurch
desert a friend in trouble
b
: to abandon (military service) without leave

intransitive verb

: to quit one's post, allegiance, or service without leave or justification
especially : to abandon military duty without leave and without intent to return

desert

4 of 4

noun (2)

de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: deserved reward or punishment
—usually used in plural
got their just deserts
2
: the quality or fact of meriting reward or punishment
3
: excellence, worth

Did you know?

Where does the phrase just deserts come from?

Why do we say that someone has gotten their just deserts? Does this turn of phrase have anything to do with dessert (“a sweet food eaten at the end of a meal”) or desert (“a dry land with few plants and little rainfall”)? In fact, the phrase employs neither of these words. Instead, it uses a completely unrelated word that happens to be pronounced like the word for sweets and spelled like the one for a dry place: desert, meaning “reward or punishment deserved or earned by one’s qualities or acts.” This little-used noun is, as you might have guessed, related to the English verb deserve. It has nothing to do with arid, dry land, or with cookies and ice cream.

Synonyms

Noun (1)

Verb

Noun (2)

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus
Choose the Right Synonym for desert

abandon, desert, forsake mean to leave without intending to return.

abandon suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection.

abandoned children

desert implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence.

a deserted town

forsake suggests an action more likely to bring impoverishment or bereavement to that which is forsaken than its exposure to physical dangers.

a forsaken lover

Examples of desert in a Sentence

Noun (1) Satellite images taken this year and 20 years ago show that the desert is in retreat thanks to a resurgence of trees. — Andy Coghlan, New Scientist, 14-20 Oct. 2006
The coastal plain is a desert in terms of precipitation—less than six inches fall annually—but what falls as snow stays to be later distributed by the wind. — John Hildebrand, Harper's, November 2003
The house finch, a songbird native to the Western desert, has proved to be highly adaptable, having rapidly colonized the Eastern states after its release on Long Island in the early 1940's. — Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2002
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The 2025 Indian Wells Open will kick off this week in the California desert, where the best players in the world will be taking the court. — Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025 Saguaro National Park Before The Summer Heat Arrives Arizona’s deserts are at their most comfortable during spring, with daytime highs around 70–80°F. — Emese MacZko, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
It should be kept in mind that the territory the cession of which is provided for is largely desert and very sparsely inhabited. — Anonymous, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2011 The ban covers the non-desert regions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and most of Orange County and prohibits outdoor and residential burning of wood and manufactured logs. — Christian Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2021
Verb
His wit hasn’t deserted him, however, which gives his hatred a poisonous potency. — Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 18 Feb. 2025 For that’s what the Bronx was for us: a working-class ghetto destined to be deserted by its young. — Andrew Silow-Carroll, Sun Sentinel, 12 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for desert

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, "barren expanse of land (either wooded or arid), wasteland," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēserta "unfrequented places, wilderness," noun derivative from neuter plural (feminine singular in Late Latin) of dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited" — more at desert entry 2

Adjective

Middle English desert, deserte "barren, uninhabited, deserted, forsaken," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited," from past participle of dēserere "to part company with, abandon, leave uninhabited" — more at desert entry 3

Verb

borrowed from French déserter, going back to Old French, "to devastate, make uninhabited, abandon, leave," borrowed from Late Latin dēsertāre "to leave, abandon," frequentative of Latin dēserere "to part company with, abandon, leave uninhabited, leave in the lurch," from dē- de- + serere "to link together, join in a series" — more at series

Note: Note that Dictionnaire du Moyen Français divides deserter into two lemmas, assigning the senses "devastate, make uninhabited" to a derivative of desert "barren, uninhabited" (see desert entry 2) and the senses "abandon, leave" to a loan from Late Latin dēsertāre.

Noun (2)

Middle English desert, dissert "fact of deserving reward or punishment, worthiness, merit," borrowed from Anglo-French desert, deserte, desserte "merit, reward, fact of deserving reward or punishment, wrongful conduct, reason, cause" (also continental Old & Middle French), derivative of deservir "to deserve, merit, earn, be entitled to" — more at deserve

Note: The derivation of Old French desert from deservir has been variously explained. Trésor de la Langue Française describes desserte as formed from the present tense base (i.e., the base lacking -v-) of desservir ("Déverbal, formé sur le radical du présent de l'indicative de desservir"). P. Ruelle points in a different direction, judging both the Old French noun deserte and the adjective desert as a variant of the past participle deservi, descending from *desérvitum, a presumed by-form of classical dēservītum (see his "Notes sur le lexique des Isopets," Romania, vol. 101, no. 401 [1980], pp. 77-78).

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1603, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of desert was in the 13th century

Phrases Containing desert

Browse Nearby Words

desert
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Cite this Entry

“Desert.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desert. Accessed 10 Mar. 2025.

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Kids Definition

desert

1 of 4 noun
des·​ert ˈdez-ərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
: dry land with few plants and little rainfall
desertlike
-ˌlīk How to pronounce desert (audio)
adjective

desert

2 of 4 adjective
des·​ert ˈdez-ərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
: of, relating to, or resembling a desert
especially : being barren and without life
a desert island

desert

3 of 4 noun
de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: worthiness of reward or punishment
rewarded according to their deserts
2
: a deserved reward or punishment
got your just deserts

desert

4 of 4 verb
de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: to withdraw from : leave
desert a town
2
: to leave someone or something one should stay with
deserted a friend in trouble
3
: to fail one in time of need
my courage deserted me
4
: to quit one's post without permission especially with the intention of remaining away permanently
deserter noun
desertion
di-ˈzər-shən
noun
Etymology

Noun

Middle English desert "barren land," from early French desert (same meaning), derived from Latin deserere "to desert, abandon," from de- "from, away" and serere "to join together"

Noun

Middle English deserte "quality of being worthy of a reward or punishment," from early French desert (same meaning), from deservir "to deserve," from Latin deservire "to devote oneself to"

Verb

from French déserter "to desert, abandon," from Latin desertare (same meaning), derived from earlier deserere "to desert, abandon" — related to desert entry 1

More from Merriam-Webster on desert

Nglish: Translation of desert for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about desert

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