Entry Word: desolation

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 a state or spell of low spirits <his desolation after his brother left for college was incurable> — see sadness
2 land that is uninhabited or not fit for crops <looked out over the vast untamed desolation to the north> — see wasteland
3 the state of being unattended to or not cared for <the desolation of the abandoned garden> — see neglect 1
4 the state or fact of being rendered nonexistent, physically unsound, or useless <the attack resulted in a scene of utter desolation> — see destruction