'Desolate' definitions:
Definition of 'desolate'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills"; "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a stark landscape" [syn: bare, barren, bleak, desolate, stark]
adjective
Crushed by grief; "depressed and desolate of soul"; "a low desolate wail"
verb
Leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch; "The mother deserted her children" [syn: abandon, forsake, desolate, desert]
verb
Reduce in population; "The epidemic depopulated the countryside" [syn: depopulate, desolate]
verb
Cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly; "The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion" [syn: lay waste to, waste, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourge]
Definition of 'Desolate'
From: GCIDE
- Desolate \Des"o*late\, a. [L. desolatus, p. p. of desolare to leave alone, forsake; de- + solare to make lonely, solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- 1. Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house. [1913 Webster]
- I will make Jerusalem . . . a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. --Jer. ix. 11. [1913 Webster]
- And the silvery marish flowers that throng The desolate creeks and pools among. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless. [1913 Webster]
- Have mercy upon, for I am desolate. --Ps. xxv. 16. [1913 Webster]
- Voice of the poor and desolate. --Keble. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- I were right now of tales desolate. --Chaucer.
- Syn: Desert; uninhabited; lonely; waste. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Desolate'
From: GCIDE
- Desolate \Des"o*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Desolated; p. pr. & vb. n. Desolating.]
- 1. To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the flood. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a city. [1913 Webster]
- Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war. --Sparks. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'desolate'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abandoned,
- acarpous,
- acheronian,
- afflict,
- aggrieve,
- agonize,
- alone,
- anguish,
- annihilate,
- arid,
- bare,
- barren,
- black,
- bleak,
- break down,
- bring to ruin,
- bring to tears,
- celibate,
- cheerless,
- childless,
- comfortless,
- condemn,
- confound,
- consume,
- crush,
- crushed,
- cut up,
- damn,
- dark,
- daunt,
- deal destruction,
- decimate,
- deep-troubled,
- defenseless,
- deject,
- dejected,
- demolish,
- depopulate,
- depredate,
- depress,
- depressed,
- desecrate,
- desert,
- deserted,
- desole,
- despoil,
- despondent,
- destitute,
- destroy,
- destroyed,
- devastate,
- devastated,
- devour,
- disconsolate,
- discourage,
- discouraged,
- dishearten,
- dismal,
- dismay,
- dispeople,
- dispirit,
- dispirited,
- dissolve,
- distressed,
- down,
- downcast,
- downhearted,
- drained,
- draw tears,
- drear,
- dreary,
- dried-up,
- dry,
- embitter,
- empty,
- engorge,
- excruciate,
- exhausted,
- fallow,
- fatherless,
- forlorn,
- forsaken,
- friendless,
- fruitless,
- funereal,
- gaunt,
- gelded,
- gloomy,
- gobble,
- gobble up,
- godforsaken,
- grieve,
- gut,
- gut with fire,
- havoc,
- heart-stricken,
- heart-struck,
- heartsick,
- heartsore,
- helpless,
- homeless,
- hopeless,
- impotent,
- incinerate,
- inconsolable,
- ineffectual,
- infecund,
- infertile,
- inundate,
- isolated,
- issueless,
- jejune,
- joyless,
- kithless,
- lay in ruins,
- lay waste,
- leached,
- lonely,
- low-spirited,
- melancholy,
- menopausal,
- miserable,
- motherless,
- mournful,
- murky,
- neglected,
- nonfertile,
- nonproducing,
- nonproductive,
- nonprolific,
- obliterate,
- oppress,
- outcast,
- overwhelm,
- pillage,
- poor,
- poverty-stricken,
- prostrate,
- ravage,
- ravaged,
- raze,
- remote,
- ruin,
- ruinate,
- ruined,
- sack,
- sad,
- sadden,
- shipwreck,
- sick,
- sick at heart,
- sine prole,
- solitary,
- somber,
- sorrow,
- sorrowful,
- soul-sick,
- spiritless,
- spoliate,
- sterile,
- stricken,
- sucked dry,
- suicidal,
- swallow up,
- teemless,
- throw into disorder,
- torment,
- torture,
- unconsolable,
- uncouth,
- uncultivated,
- unfertile,
- unfrequented,
- unfriended,
- unfruitful,
- unhappy,
- uninhabited,
- unleash destruction,
- unleash the hurricane,
- unoccupied,
- unpeople,
- unplowed,
- unproductive,
- unprolific,
- unsown,
- untilled,
- upheave,
- vacant,
- vandalize,
- vaporize,
- virgin,
- waste,
- wasted,
- without issue,
- woebegone,
- woeful,
- wrack,
- wreak havoc,
- wreck,
- wretched