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
Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.
—John Lonsdale, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2025
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2025
Bowman’s Roseville French ring training facility sits on a large, fairly desolate parcel near Denio’s.
—Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Adjective
A lot of people have this idea of the north as being cold and desolate, and maybe people, once upon a time, lived up there, but don't anymore.
—Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.
—John Lonsdale, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2025
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2025
Bowman’s Roseville French ring training facility sits on a large, fairly desolate parcel near Denio’s.
—Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolate
Adjective
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The latest Email Threat Trends Report from VIPRE paints a bleak picture.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025
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Related article Putin just called Trump’s bluff on Ukraine, with the Russian art of the ‘no’ deal Ukraine in 2025 is a bleak prospect.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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Similarly, a cat was sent to a shelter after 10 years in a home after his owner passed away, leaving him lonely and searching for a new home.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 May 2025
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Health officials have said the United States is facing a mental health crisis, and in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 adults around the world reported feeling fairly or very lonely.—
Madeline Holcombe,
CNN Money,
17 May 2025
Adjective
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The festival was deliberately planned for the barren weeks in June after college students left and before the summer concert and festival season kicked in.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
25 May 2025
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The Bureau’s new research station on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, with its high altitude and barren landscape, would prove to be the ideal collection spot.—
Ashley Braun,
Smithsonian Magazine,
19 May 2025
Verb
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However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Tanasia Kenney,
Miami Herald,
22 May 2025
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But that stumble constitutes Hwang’s only confrontation with the hypocrisy that ruins Yellow Face and its inherent PBS conceit.—
Armond White,
National Review,
21 May 2025
Adjective
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His dark worldview is premised on the pessimistic presumption that the world will turn on the Jews if given the chance, which is why the Israeli leader has long prized hard power over diplomatic understandings.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
22 May 2025
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Blast off at Baltimore's science fiction convention, see natural beauty envisioned by artists from around the world, take a stroll after dark at the zoo, celebrate Baltimore creatives or go to a legendary concert.—
John Coffren,
Baltimore Sun,
22 May 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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Eagerly drinking the Kool-Aid is Simone DeWitt (Alcock), a formerly impoverished but deeply ambitious upstart from Buffalo who gets a taste of the lifestyle of the rich and famous as Michaela's uppity assistant.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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His father, a Presbyterian minister, was the executive director of the New York City Mission Society, a social-services nonprofit for impoverished children.—
Dwight Garner,
New York Times,
19 May 2025
Verb
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Another key feature of algae oil is its high smoke point of 535 degrees—the temperature at which oil begins to break down, release dangerous chemicals, and destroy its nutrients.—
Jonathan Purtell,
Verywell Health,
27 May 2025
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During the week of my embed, the Russian military identified and destroyed a few of the Vampire pilots’ positions.—
Nataliya Gumenyuk,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolate. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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