desolation

noun des·o·la·tion \ ˌde-sə-ˈlā-shən , ˌde-zə- \

Definition of desolation

1 :the action of desolating

the pitiful desolation and slaughter of World War I
—D. F. Fleming

2 a :grief, sadness

… he put his trembling hands to his head, and gave a wild ringing scream, the cry of desolation.
—George Eliot

b :loneliness

3 :devastation, ruin

a scene of utter desolation

4 :barren wasteland

looked out across the desolation

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See desolation defined for kids

Examples of desolation in a Sentence

She sank into a state of desolation and despair.
photos that show the desolation of war

Recent Examples of desolation from the Web

Had anybody ever written about being high, caught the glory, hilarity and crazy desolation better than him?

— Longreads, "The Tears of Denis Johnson," 17 June 2017
The goddess Venus loves the hunter Adonis, who is fatally injured during a hunting expedition, leaving Venus in desolation.

— OregonLive.com, "14 ideas for keeping the classical musical vibe going this summer," 27 May 2017
But the family that runs the place is at home in the desolation.

— ashlea halpern, WIRED, "Need a Memorial Day to Remember? Ice-Bike the Northwest Passage," 24 May 2017
Susan Brown brings compassion and the desolation of a life lived in crushing loneliness to the role of Hannah, Joseph's emotionally repressed mother.

— chicago tribune, chicagotribune.com, "'Angels in America' in London: Nathan Lane, Andrew Garfield in a frightfully relevant epic," 5 May 2017
Another format — a worn carpet thrown over some boxes — created terrain of almost Beckettian desolation for subjects to sit on, as a forlorn-looking Alfred Hitchcock did, or lean on, like Peter Ustinov.

— roberta smith, New York Times, "The Met Celebrates Irving Penn, Revolutionary Photographer," 20 Apr. 2017
Everyone else is good too, but Hayek is on another plane, keenly tuned into the film’s frequency—its hush, its ache, its desolation.

— richard lawson, VanityFair.com, "Dark, Hopelessly Humane Beatriz at Dinner Is the Perfect Film for the Trump Era," 24 Jan. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'desolation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of desolation

see ¹desolate

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First Known Use: 14th century

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desolation Synonyms

DESOLATION Defined for English Language Learners

desolation

noun

Definition of desolation for English Language Learners

: extreme sadness caused by loss or loneliness
: the condition of a place or thing that has been damaged in such a way that it is no longer suitable for people to live in : the state or condition of being desolate