deserted 1 of 2

deserted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of desert

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deserted
Adjective
Supporting this theory, the population of Lauriacum increased threefold over the next fifty years, with the deserted settlement now being used as a quarry. — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 29 Sep. 2026 On the other side of the dark matter manhole, the pair find themselves on a deserted planet which seems to have already been utterly destroyed. — Katie Campione, Deadline, 27 Sep. 2026 But now, the deserted storefront is filled with energy, worship, and purpose. — La'tasha Givens, CBS News, 14 Sep. 2026 The streets are deserted, the glow of the floodlights on the wreckage fade behind him. — Jeff Goodell, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 The landscape of the deserted street was becoming all red sand and brown stone. — Alex Jovanovich, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026 Among all the far-off places, and all the deserted and unknown cities, among all the lawless, godless regions, the Guayrá was an oasis. — Literary Hub, 14 Aug. 2026 The red-brick Southeast Lighthouse, perched atop the Mohegan Bluffs, is all but deserted. — Lindsay Cohn, Travel + Leisure, 9 Aug. 2026 As long a there’s a full-serve station within a mile or two, in the middle of the night, your car will wander off down deserted streets at low speed, and fill up. — Brad Templeton, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Verb
In the process, the room itself is illuminated, revealing a workshop deserted in a hurry by its artisans, clay, sawdust, fabric, paper, and paint scattered across the atelier workbenches. — Liam Hess, Vogue, 9 Sep. 2026 When Jacquie Navratil rolls up to Angel City Lumber in an all-but-deserted stretch of industrial Boyle Heights on a summer Sunday, her white Dodge Caravan SE loaded with cat-trapping gear, she’s been in cat rescue mode for hours. — Adam Tschorn, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026 Life and death are entangled, like a once-prosperous but now deserted community. — Jonathan Flint, Harpers Magazine, 1 Sep. 2026 In August, Rome is deserted as locals ditch the sweltering city for the sea, but everyone returns in the fall, refreshed and energized for the season ahead. — Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 21 Aug. 2026 Another neighbor said the apartment was deserted when police arrived. — Kerry Burke, New York Daily News, 12 Aug. 2026 One season on our family farm, deer deserted a tree stand that had produced results for years. — David Farbman, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 Beaches near Pensacola, Florida, were mostly deserted except for tourists taking photos of the pounding surf. — ABC News, 22 July 2026 Mbappe wasn’t the worst of France’s attackers and never stopped trying to turn the tide, but his quality deserted him. — Liam Twomey, New York Times, 16 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deserted
Adjective
  • By the time viewers reach hour 15, the staff has spent an entire shift navigating a cyberattack that forces the emergency department to abandon digital systems, a nonstop influx of Fourth of July emergencies and an abandoned baby.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 25 Aug. 2026
  • According to the gallery, the 25-minute film is set in a semi-abandoned hotel near Tokyo and reimagines the Greek myth of the goddess Persephone’s abduction by Hades.
    — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 16 June 2026
Verb
  • Their case was previously rejected by the district court and appeals court.
    — David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Meta, a week ago, rejected, then reversed course on an ad for Alex Gibney’s doc takedown Musk, and now a studio is about to weigh in on Meta.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • David Ayer’s movie stars Brad Pitt as a Special Forces officer stranded with his combat dog in the wilderness.
    — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 3 Oct. 2026
  • According to the suit, the issues led to at least one collision and two train breakdowns that stranded hundreds of travelers in the heat.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • The residents occasionally gather in a disused rec center but the meetings devolve into rants about immigrants, junkies, thugs and vigilantism.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 Sep. 2026
  • At least 14 artisanal miners are dead and scores are injured at a disused mine in South Africa, police said Tuesday.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Along a desolate stretch of California desert highway, next to a ramshackle home, law enforcement officials on Wednesday dug for a second day in a search for bodies.
    — Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026
  • With its fragile acoustic melodies, desolate lyrics, and spare, subtle studio accompaniment, Ride Lonesome is like Nick Drake’s mumble-folk masterpiece Bryter Layter as the work of a lovelorn Laurel Canyon soft-rock poet.
    — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • To the west was mostly more vacant land stretching to the river.
    — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 4 Oct. 2026
  • However, in this case, the two Democratic seats in the minority are currently vacant, and one Republican seat is about to be vacated.
    — Tzachi Zach, The Conversation, 2 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Markwayne Mullin, the secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, alleged that the Biden administration was derelict in its duty by failing to vet the sponsors of the children and to conduct wellness checks to ensure their safety.
    — Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 11 June 2026
  • Once the colony grew, the birds roosted in a derelict military barracks nearby, later returning to the pine forest when the facility was renovated.
    — Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 14 May 2026
Adjective
  • On Monday, the department formally removed the vacated Biden-era rule from the Code of Federal Regulations and restored the earlier regulatory language.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Food Lion has since announced plans to fill the vacated space at 5706 Wyalong Drive.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 15 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Deserted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deserted. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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