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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of desolate
Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 2 Mar. 2025
Orphaned at 3 years old and robbed of her fortune, she’s dragged aboard a ship sailing for New France by her guardian, only to be abandoned on a desolate island.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb. 2025
Colorado’s quadrant of the Four Corners is filled with secrets of the past in its rugged and sometimes desolate desert landscape.
—Jennifer Broome, The Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2025
In video after video, young people complained about missing their high school graduations and senior proms, of the desolate college campuses that welcomed them and the increasingly precarious economy that waited for them on the other side.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Adjective
This powerful film tells of the friendship between a young man and a peasant farmer who has devoted his life to planting trees throughout his desolate homeland.
—Jeremy Fassler, Vulture, 2 Mar. 2025
Orphaned at 3 years old and robbed of her fortune, she’s dragged aboard a ship sailing for New France by her guardian, only to be abandoned on a desolate island.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb. 2025
Colorado’s quadrant of the Four Corners is filled with secrets of the past in its rugged and sometimes desolate desert landscape.
—Jennifer Broome, The Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2025
In video after video, young people complained about missing their high school graduations and senior proms, of the desolate college campuses that welcomed them and the increasingly precarious economy that waited for them on the other side.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolate
Adjective
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The coming-of-age story finds a new generation of young women in Gilead, grappling with the bleak future that awaits them.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Stocks had sold off sharply last Friday, amid growing uncertainty on U.S. trade policy and a bleak inflation outlook.—
Amala Balakrishner,
CNBC,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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This keeps us lonely at a time when the loneliness public health crisis is at an all-time high.—
Priya Vulchi,
Time,
9 Apr. 2025
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Ro, now a police officer, needs help investigating the death 22 years earlier of their classmate, Ricky, killed in a hit-and-run on a lonely county road.—
Mary Ann Grossmann,
Twin Cities,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Charlie Parker’s Favorite Painting (1946) indicates Abercrombie’s engagement with social issues: a yellow noose, nearly fluorescent against a dishwater sky, dangles from a barren tree—an oblique lament from the doggedly antiracist Abercrombie.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
ARTnews.com,
26 Mar. 2025
-
Mass Effect's core loop doesn't benefit from huge barren landscapes that are devoid of detail.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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An attorney representing former Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker is asking a county judge to give the ex-official probation — not jail time — arguing that his conviction late last year has already damaged his reputation and ruined his career, according to a new court filing.—
Grace Hase,
Mercury News,
4 Apr. 2025
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However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Simone Jasper,
Miami Herald,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Store green tea products in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place.—
Lindsay Curtis,
Verywell Health,
4 Apr. 2025
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The Page Turner sees the Page family consumed by the literary world — each in their own way — as its dark, foundational secret runs the risk of exposure.—
Rachel Raposas,
People.com,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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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
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McQueen spends half an hour dispassionately showing us the grimness of HMP Maze, a Troubles-era warehouse for enemies of the British state on a disused airfield.—
IndieWire Staff,
IndieWire,
12 Aug. 2024
Adjective
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On the idyllic shores of the once popular tourist hot spot Inle Lake, in southern Shan state, the earthquake destroyed hundreds of bamboo houses on stilts occupied by impoverished villagers, according to aid workers.—
Ross Adkin,
CNN Money,
4 Apr. 2025
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These navigators link impoverished Floridians with the network of religious and community organizations that support them and teach them how to take of themselves, according to Hope Florida’s supporters.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Af Klint edited her own notebooks later in life, rewriting or destroying entire passages and exorcising biographical details.—
Jay Cheshes,
Smithsonian Magazine,
28 Mar. 2025
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Helicopters dumped water over a burning forest in South Korea Thursday as fire crews struggled to contain the country's worst-ever wildfires, which have killed 28 people, forced at least 37,800 to flee their homes and destroyed thousands of structures and vehicles.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolate. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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