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   Des·o·late

   adjective

   • 1. (of a place) deserted of people and in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness: "a desolate moor" Similar barrenbleakstarkbaredismalgrimdesertwastearidsterilewildwindsweptinhospitableexposeddeserteduninhabitedunoccupieddepopulatedforsakengodforsakenabandonedunpeopleduntenantedevacuatedemptyvacatedvacantunfrequentedunvisitedsolitarylonelysecludedisolatedremoteOpposite fertilepopulous
   • ▪ feeling or showing misery, unhappiness, or loneliness: "I suddenly felt desolate and bereft" Similar miserablesadunhappymelancholygloomyglumdespondentcomfortlessdepressedmournfuldisconsolatebroken-heartedheavy-heartedgrief-strickenwretcheddowncastcast downdejecteddownhearteddispiriteddevastateddespairinginconsolableanguishedcrushedforlorncrestfallenupsetdistressedgrievingwoebegonebereftin low spiritsinformal:bluedowncut upOpposite joyful

   verb

   • 1. make (a place) bleakly and depressingly empty or bare: "the droughts that desolated the dry plains" Similar devastateravageruinmake/leave desolateleave in ruinsdestroywrecklay waste towreak havoc onlevelrazedemolishwipe outobliterateannihilategutdepopulateemptyrare:depredatespoliate
   • ▪ make (someone) feel utterly wretched and unhappy: "he was desolated by the deaths of his treasured friends" Similar disheartendispiritdauntdistressdepressmake sad/unhappysaddencast downdejectmake miserablemake gloomy/despondentweigh downoppressinformal:shatterfloorOpposite cheer

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Latin desolatus ‘abandoned’, past participle of desolare, from de- ‘thoroughly’ + solus ‘alone’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. desolately adverb
   • 2. desolateness noun
   • 3. desolator noun

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • D

     2

   • E

     1

   • S

     1

   • O

     1

   • L

     1

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

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