godforsaken

adjective

god·​for·​sak·​en ˈgäd-fər-ˌsā-kən 

1

: remote, desolate

He said that he would never … go out there in those godforsaken canyons at night …

—Joseph Wambaugh

2

: neglected and miserable in appearance or circumstances

… a few eccentric real estate gamblers started buying old buildings in godforsaken downtowns.

—Kurt Anderson et al.

Synonyms of godforsaken

• bleak
• desolate
• lonely
• dark
• depressing
• depressive
• somber
• darkening
• solemn
• lonesome
• murky
• miserable
• cold
• gray
• wretched
• blue
• morbid

Examples of godforsaken in a Sentence

Who would want to visit such a godforsaken place?

grew up in the kind of godforsaken town in which everyone drank in order to forget that they were there

Recent Examples on the Web

Anchored by the tenderness of Comer’s performance (the actress’ movie star glamour futilely undermined by a godforsaken pageboy cut), Sister Brigid offers herself as proof that old wounds can be tended into blooming gardens of love, and Robin is thus inspired to rewrite his own legend. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 11 June 2026

Sachs is attuned to both the costs and the pleasures of living in the godforsaken place known as New York. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 7 Nov. 2025

Viewed from a distance through a telephoto lens, his demise in a godforsaken town, at the hands of Somoza’s troops, is random, scruffy, and dumb. — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

First, the company claims credit for turning central Florida from a godforsaken wasteland into a thriving economic engine for the entire state. — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1778, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for godforsaken

• overtaken
• reawaken
• undertaken
• awaken
• betaken
• forsaken
• mistaken
• partaken
• retaken
• unshaken
• shaken
• taken

Kids Definition

godforsaken

adjective

god·​for·​sak·​en -fər-ˌsā-kən 

: remote entry 1 sense 1, desolate

the most godforsaken place in the world