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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Mars Salazar, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Oscar ran out of water on the third day of walking through the desolate south Texas heat.
—Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Alcatraz prison embodied terror, isolation and despair, where hardened criminals faced relentless confinement on a desolate rock surrounded by icy, inescapable waters.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 July 2025
For starters, no one would ever describe them as empty or desolate.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Adjective
There’s something about the kind of desolate, quiet nature of the desert that’s very different from making music in a huge metropolitan city.
—Mars Salazar, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025
Oscar ran out of water on the third day of walking through the desolate south Texas heat.
—Jolene Almendarez, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Alcatraz prison embodied terror, isolation and despair, where hardened criminals faced relentless confinement on a desolate rock surrounded by icy, inescapable waters.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 July 2025
For starters, no one would ever describe them as empty or desolate.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolate
Adjective
-
Some traders said the numbers were less severe than analysts' bleak forecasts.—
Sabrina Valle,
USA Today,
3 July 2025
-
No one is as funny and as bleak in the same sentence, or maybe even the same word.—
Literary Hub
July 1,
Literary Hub,
1 July 2025
Adjective
-
While Bowie envisioned an Earth careening toward apocalypse in a flamboyant, theatrical cry, Drake’s five leaves are quieter, lonelier — more like the end of a season than the end of a world.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
5 July 2025
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By January, Musk had transitioned to lieutenant, making up DOGE, complete with cringey swag, like a lonely preteen dreaming up a secret club in his tree house.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
1 July 2025
Adjective
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The jetliner heading to Nairobi lost control shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and nose-dived into a barren patch of land.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
13 July 2025
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However, planting vegetation under solar panels—as opposed to the more traditional method of siting solar arrays on somewhat barren land—can help cool them.—
Robert Pearlman,
ArsTechnica,
11 July 2025
Verb
-
However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Olivia Lloyd
July 9,
Miami Herald,
9 July 2025
-
Now a wonderful memory of the occasion will be ruined in my memories.—
Eric Thomas,
Sun Sentinel,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
Look for bronze or dark spots on the foliage or prominent purple veins.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
9 July 2025
-
Michigan is home to six dark sky state parks, three international dark sky parks and an international dark sky sanctuary.—
Jenna Prestininzi,
Freep.com,
9 July 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
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
-
Many are located in impoverished barrios dominated by criminals — who are now demanding a cut of their tuition fees.—
John Otis,
NPR,
7 July 2025
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The ignorant need cultural immersion at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora, which tells the story of those who fled the Cuban island that went from a free, prosperous republic to an oppressive, impoverished dictatorship within a single generation.—
Luka Ladan,
New York Daily News,
5 July 2025
Verb
-
Experts have long assumed that the instrument had been destroyed or lost to history.—
Asia London Palomba,
Smithsonian Magazine,
14 July 2025
-
The fire that destroyed the Grand Canyon Lodge was burning on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.—
AZCentral.com,
AZCentral.com,
14 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolate. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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