Synonyms of desolate

desolate 1 of 2

adjective

ˈde-sə-lət 

1

as in bleak

causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer

a desolate house abandoned many years ago

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bleak
• lonely
• dark
• somber
• depressing
• depressive
• solemn
• lonesome
• darkening
• murky
• cold
• gray
• miserable
• morbid
• blue
• wretched
• cheerless
• depressed
• forlorn
• black
• gloomy
• dreary
• sad
• sullen
• comfortless
• dismal
• disconsolate
• drear
• funereal
• morose
• chill
• sepulchral
• elegiac
• dire
• oppressive
• lugubrious
• glum
• cloudy
• melancholy
• godforsaken
• saturnine
• desperate
• unhappy
• tenebrous
• sunless
• dreich
• hopeless
• mournful
• plutonian
• Cimmerian
• dejected
• dull
• woebegone
• dim
• melancholic
• distressful
• tenebrific
• grim
• inconsolable
• despondent
• negative
• woeful
• mirthless
• sorrowful
• discouraging
• distressing
• menacing
• upsetting
• dispiriting
• low
• drab
• dismaying
• disheartening
• pessimistic
• down
• droopy
• lamentable
• plaintive
• hangdog
• colorless
• discomfiting
• dour
• threatening
• lowering
• lowery

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• bright
• friendly
• cheerful
• festive
• comforting
• cheery
• gay
• joyous
• cordial
• joyful
• sunshiny
• merry
• jolly
• gay
• buoyant
• blithe
• optimistic
• mirthful
• hopeful
• encouraging
• heartwarming
• cheering
• blithesome
• jocund
• lighthearted
• lightsome

2

as in lonely

sad from lack of companionship or separation from others

he was less desolate after adopting a rescue dog

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lonely
• lonesome
• lone
• forlorn
• deserted
• solitary
• lorn
• friendless
• neglected
• rejected
• forgotten
• abandoned
• forsaken
• alone
• unaccompanied
• only
• sole
• solo

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• accompanied
• attended
• escorted

3

as in deserted

left unoccupied or unused

a desolate mining town that had its brief heyday more than a century ago

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deserted
• disused
• abandoned
• derelict
• vacant
• vacated
• forsaken
• rejected
• forgotten
• void
• empty
• neglected
• discarded
• untended
• ignored
• unattended
• waste
• shabby
• miserable
• junked
• idle
• godforsaken
• wretched
• refuse
• cast-off
• castaway
• jettisoned

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• redeemed
• reclaimed
• saved
• recovered
• salvaged
• restored
• retrieved
• rescued
• reconditioned
• rehabilitated
• rehabbed
• repeopled

4

as in barren

producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation

wild, desolate plains on which only the hardiest could survive

Synonyms & Similar Words

• barren
• impoverished
• bleak
• poor
• waste
• unproductive
• unfertile
• hardscrabble
• bony
• infertile
• stark
• desert
• dry
• inhospitable
• lifeless
• dead
• thirsty
• drained
• exhausted
• arid
• uncultivable
• depleted
• consumed
• debilitated
• diminished
• reduced
• waterless
• spent
• enfeebled
• sere
• droughty
• untillable
• rainless
• sunbaked
• parched
• expended
• dehydrated
• dried-up
• lessened
• bankrupted
• baked
• used up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fertile
• rich
• productive
• fruitful
• lush
• luxuriant
• arable
• green
• tillable
• verdant
• sylvan

desolate

2 of 2

verb

ˈde-sə-ˌlāt 

as in to ruin

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

totally desolated the city with aerial bombs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ruin
• destroy
• demolish
• devastate
• wreck
• shatter
• overcome
• waste
• smash
• damage
• ravage
• tear down
• annihilate
• decimate
• raze
• cream
• mar
• extinguish
• vaporize
• pull down
• total
• erode
• pulverize
• rub out
• cripple
• wrack
• defeat
• nuke
• dismantle
• kill
• best
• subdue
• conquer
• do in
• crush
• spoil
• win (against)
• break
• blast
• prevail (over)
• triumph (over)
• remove
• deteriorate
• injure
• disintegrate
• sweep (away)
• impair
• harm
• rout
• disfigure
• scour
• lick
• trim
• master
• surmount
• wear (away)
• havoc
• slaughter
• scotch
• blow up
• thrash
• mutilate
• dissolve
• despoil
• vitiate
• eradicate
• obliterate
• deface
• wash out
• dilapidate
• wipe out
• plunder
• dynamite
• take down
• cut down
• beat
• sack
• blot out
• massacre
• overbear
• gut
• whip
• exterminate
• mangle
• fell
• pillage
• disassemble
• liquidate
• slay
• extirpate
• loot
• clobber
• assassinate
• murder
• unmake
• overmatch
• efface
• trounce
• trash
• expunge
• unbuild
• kill off
• trample
• stamp (out)
• drub
• undo
• mow (down)
• skunk
• snuff (out)
• butcher
• wallop
• take out
• execute
• root (out)
• vandalize
• dispatch
• zap

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• build
• construct
• set up
• erect
• patch
• rear
• repair
• put up
• create
• raise
• found
• fix
• mend
• form
• produce
• make
• shape
• establish
• assemble
• protect
• bring about
• forge
• manufacture
• invent
• frame
• fashion
• preserve
• constitute
• save
• mold
• organize
• revamp
• recondition
• rebuild
• institute
• restore
• fabricate
• doctor
• conserve
• reconstruct
• father
• renovate
• remodel

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective desolate contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of desolate are bleak, cheerless, dismal, dreary, and gloomy. While all these words mean "devoid of cheer or comfort," desolate adds an element of utter remoteness or lack of human contact to any already disheartening aspect.

a desolate outpost

Where would bleak be a reasonable alternative to desolate?

The words bleak and desolate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, bleak suggests chill, dull, and barren characteristics that utterly dishearten.

the bleak years of the depression

When is cheerless a more appropriate choice than desolate?

The words cheerless and desolate can be used in similar contexts, but cheerless stresses absence of anything cheering.

a drab and cheerless office

When might dismal be a better fit than desolate?

In some situations, the words dismal and desolate are roughly equivalent. However, dismal indicates extreme and utterly depressing gloominess.

dismal weather

When could dreary be used to replace desolate?

Although the words dreary and desolate have much in common, dreary, often interchangeable with dismal, emphasizes discouragement resulting from sustained dullness or futility.

a dreary job

When is it sensible to use gloomy instead of desolate?

The meanings of gloomy and desolate largely overlap; however, gloomy often suggests lack of hope or promise.

gloomy war news

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of desolate

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

Making matters worse, those same neighborhoods are some of the city’s most desolate transit deserts. — Al Sharpton, New York Daily News, 14 Sep. 2026

All of them were naked, mutilated and left in desolate spots. — Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

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