1
as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
a desolate house abandoned many years ago
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Út was there that day, on that desolate strip of road in Trảng Bàng, along with other film cameramen and photographers.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 Feb. 2025
But still: How did the TV work with no cords or outlets up there on that desolate cliff?
—Brian Grubb, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
Behind her, a bus collects locals who still shuffle in and out of the desolate town to go shopping.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 2 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Adjective
The work follows two soldiers from opposing nations who are stationed at a shared barrack on a desolate border.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 13 Feb. 2025
Út was there that day, on that desolate strip of road in Trảng Bàng, along with other film cameramen and photographers.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 8 Feb. 2025
But still: How did the TV work with no cords or outlets up there on that desolate cliff?
—Brian Grubb, Vulture, 7 Feb. 2025
Behind her, a bus collects locals who still shuffle in and out of the desolate town to go shopping.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 2 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolate
Adjective
-
Even the relatively staid premiere stole a handful of grim chuckles thanks to its guest star’s exceedingly blasé delivery of impossibly bleak news.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
9 Mar. 2025
-
Yet if Mickey’s life is suffocatingly bleak, Mickey 17 is anything but.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Another remembers her lonely childhood with a single mother and resolved it with a partner from a large family and three children.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
5 Mar. 2025
-
This distinction is important: your parent might live alone without feeling isolated, or conversely, feel lonely despite being surrounded by people.—
Carolyn Rosenblatt,
Forbes,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Such descriptions enliven the book, and capture Shubin’s reverence for both the beauty and the mysteries hidden in the cold, barren tundra.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
3 Mar. 2025
-
For most of its barren interior, life is an afterthought—nature’s great white void, frozen in time.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
2 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Sometimes, one bad person or a few bad people can ruin things for everybody.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
-
However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Don Sweeney,
Kansas City Star,
26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
An open-wide view is way more important than a dark sky.—
Jamie Carter,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
-
The fire broke out when the bus was on the corner of Cambridge and Northampton roads in the Cleveland area, filling the suburban street with a dark cloud of smoke.—
Kyla Guilfoil,
NBC News,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
Three generations of the Kim family have created a politically repressed and economically impoverished state that is nonetheless a pivotal actor on the global stage.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Now with all these things vanished, along with the bookstores and repertory cinemas, the city seems impoverished and disfigured.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
24 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
This is a major U-turn from Riot, after completely revamping the rewards system at the start of the year and being destroyed by fans for it.—
Mike Stubbs,
Forbes,
4 Mar. 2025
-
Lost in a sea of ash: When wildfire destroys a home — and a loved one’s urn — the search begins.—
Ryan Fonseca,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolate. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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