1
as in melancholy
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
2
as in bleakness
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolateness
Noun
-
Absent the lush melancholy of classic synth-pop, what Hervé and Amato had in common with their forbears was a spirit of innovation rooted in profound laziness.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
23 May 2026 -
While the actors are committed, poignant and warm, their upbeat tone doesn’t always blend well with the melancholy of the picture.—
Tomris Laffly,
Variety,
13 May 2026
Noun
-
But there’s also a discernible strain of hope and timeliness amid the bleakness in some of the most recent hits.—
Cynthia Littleton,
Variety,
20 May 2026
-
The choice yields a brighter, richer, more varied and nuanced story in which coming-of-age tropes mingle with Gileadean bleakness to reveal new facets of a state premised on male supremacy.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Valentine’s Day is like a sweet little respite from February dreariness.—
Rebecca Norris,
InStyle,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Shunammite, once so determined to get her period, is staring down the possibility of barrenness and, in Gilead, that means spinsterhood.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
27 May 2026
-
Clearly, her absurd office dredged its barrenness from her.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The dejection briefly abated when people standing along the metal doors of the theater heard muffled cheers when the taping began, bringing a few smiles to the gathering.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
21 May 2026
-
Where there is excitement and bravado, Neto can also show dejection when the results aren’t going in his favor.—
Doug Padilla,
Oc Register,
20 May 2026
Noun
-
For some of us, this is a very counterintuitive notion, as the notion of things existing within and moving through some form of empty nothingness just doesn’t make any sense.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
-
As Bastian reads, a boy named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), while pursued by a green-eyed creature called G’mork (Alan Oppenheimer), is dispatched by the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach) to find the cure for the mysterious nothingness enveloping the kingdom.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Jurors decided that Grossman acted with malice and oppression and Erickson acted with malice, oppression, or fraud, kicking off the punitive phase of the trial.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
10 June 2026
-
At many points, this project investigates mothers who are men or nongendered, but who care for other Black people, especially in the pursuit of liberation from oppression.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 June 2026
Noun
-
Those raw emotions and moments of shared experience, which can be so hard to find in a fractured society, will be replicated all over the world in the coming weeks, bring families, communities and entire nations together, uniting them in hope, joy and, of course, despair.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
11 June 2026
-
On the other side of the couch, Kyle sits staring at them both, alternating between anger and grief, and although Andy didn’t spend much time trying to peel back the layers of Kyle’s despair, his aimlessness is as much at the heart of this season as anything Amanda and West did.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Desolateness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolateness. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
