deserted 1 of 2

Definition of desertednext

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
Vargas nodded at the nearly deserted river. Daniel Gonzalez, USA Today, 9 Nov. 2025 Except for a few children kicking a ball and some chickens pecking the ground, the village seemed almost deserted. Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025 Inside deserted clapboard farmsteads, palatial Antebellum-era plantation houses and maximalist Queen Anne-style structures, Sansivero has discovered many residences that were never emptied, offering a portal into another life. Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025 The streets below looked deserted. Simon Shuster, Time, 23 Oct. 2025 Just past the cattle-ranching town of Bridgeport in northern California, near the border of Nevada, this deserted mining community is frozen in time along its dusty desert road. Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 18 Oct. 2025 To summarize, the protagonist, lost in hopeless days, eventually stumbles upon a deserted dance hall. Billboard Japan, Billboard, 17 Oct. 2025 Other activities include surfing excursions, where serious wave riders can visit multiple breaks, or a Robinson Crusoe Experience, during which guests head out on a boat to catch their lunch, which is then barbecued and served with prosecco on a nearby deserted beach. Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2025 Raimi’s new film, which hits theaters in January and released its first trailer today, is a psychological thriller set on a deserted island in which two co-workers (Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien) are stranded together after a plane crash. Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2025
Verb
The streets below were strangely empty for a weekday morning, and Madison Square Park, visible through the scaffolding, was deserted save for a few people and their pets braving the day’s frigid winds at the dog park. Kim Velsey, Curbed, 5 Jan. 2026 With such a prosperous and advanced village before them, well before its time, archaeologists wondered why the site had been deserted. Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 4 Jan. 2026 The block, once home to dozens of trailers, was deserted. Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 31 Dec. 2025 Yes, moviegoers have pretty much deserted the cineplex to stay home with streaming. Stephen Schaefer, Boston Herald, 7 Dec. 2025 The hillside grotto where Jesus and Mary are said to have rested is open to visitors but on a recent afternoon was deserted – with burned out candles evidence of prayers but not a single visitor. Jane Arraf, NPR, 29 Nov. 2025 But in the ring, his mojo deserted him. Heather Abbott, CBS News, 17 Nov. 2025 Abbott’s apartment is deserted. Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2025 The tables were empty and the bar deserted, the only sign of life the clank and swish of dishes being washed in the back, through the swinging double doors. Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deserted
Adjective
  • Rogers is shopworker Polly Parrish, who gets mistakenly identified as the parent of an abandoned baby.
    Gwen Ihnat, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Dec. 2025
  • Thousands of abandoned and derelict vessels around the US pose environmental and navigational challenges.
    Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • Still, this is early days, and there have been similar drugs which looked promising at the beginning but were later rejected due to safety concerns, Nadar said.
    Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 8 Nov. 2025
  • That can feel quite personal, and maybe the parents feel rejected too.
    Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 8 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Colonial Pipeline said its network had been accessed via a compromised password that was linked to a disused virtual private networking account used for remote access.
    Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
  • The venue was a disused Anglican church where Lediņš had been hosting a discothèque.
    Alex Ross, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • But here, stranded alongside Bradley Cooper (who has the same deer-in-headlights look), she’s completely lost as a Depression-era woman who goes mad after losing a child and directs her fury at a woman who had an illegitimate son with her husband years earlier.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2025
  • Researchers hypothesize that Earhart did not crash at sea, but instead landed and was stranded on Nikumaroro Island, later perishing there.
    Ashley J. DiMella, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Sátántangó’s desolate landscapes, dominated by mud, wind, and overcast skies, summoned a vision of earthly purgatory unrivaled in almost all of cinema.
    Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026
  • Thanksgiving is desolate with freezing rain.
    Allegra Goodman, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
  • Officials believe the fire started in the occupied home and spread to the vacant home next door.
    Noelle Alviz-Gransee, Kansas City Star, 9 Nov. 2025
  • No public update on the project has been released since 2023, and the land remains vacant.
    Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • This stretch of the park, an object of fascination for Urbano, contains an array of a hundred or so different models of public gaslights, now obsolete and semi-derelict.
    Javier Montes, Artforum, 1 Jan. 2026
  • Fans of dark storytelling will find cruel necromancers, derelict mansions and strange alchemies in this page-turning epic.
    Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 4 Dec. 2025
Adjective
  • Eberle deposited the puck into the vacated cage with 35 seconds to play, dooming the Ducks with his second goal of the night.
    Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 23 Dec. 2025
  • Duncan, whose vacated conviction is still being reviewed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, was released after posting a $150,000 bond.
    JACK BROOK THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Arkansas Online, 28 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Deserted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deserted. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.

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