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

Exploring Indonesia—an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands—over more than a decade has led me to some truly jaw-dropping beaches, some gloriously desolate, others vibrantly alive with international travelers, expats, and locals. — Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 26 Aug. 2026

Noisemaker feels a genuine kinship with the Gallico story, including its setting, a desolate stretch of coastline in eastern England. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026

The desolate landscape and little human occupation thereafter helped preserve the rock art through centuries of exposure to wind, rain, and sun. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Aug. 2026

In July 1991, Gerard Dorsey was gunned down in an alley off North Brice Street in a desolate West Baltimore alley. — Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

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