desolates

present tense third-person singular of desolate
as in destroys
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of totally desolated the city with aerial bombs

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolates
Verb
  • Each participant had lost central vision in one eye due to dry AMD, which destroys light-sensitive macular cells over time.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2025
  • An arson fire destroys the 43-year-old Globe Theatre on March 8 (the arsonist was never caught, but a firebug had set several blazes in the park that winter).
    Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • There are heated confrontations and a slap, and Alma ruins her shot at tenure after stealing a colleague's prescription pad to get more pain meds.
    Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
  • What to do in Split Split is a diverse blend of ancient and modern life, where Roman ruins stand alongside modern cafés and a bustling harbor.
    Chris Dong, AFAR Media, 9 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Americans are used to thinking about automation as something that devastates factory towns in the heartland.
    Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
  • The novel is about three teenagers experiencing the joy and angst of their senior year in a New York City high school as the AIDS crisis devastates their community.
    Abdi Nazemian, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • If the city demolishes the building, the costs will be assessed to the property owner.
    Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Tessa Ia leads the series as Valeria Goldberg, a young woman in a Jewish-Mexican community who makes a mistake that shatters her world and forces her into a desperate fight to find her missing children.
    Allison DeGrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 17 Oct. 2025
  • In a small town like Harding, a crime involving local children of local families shatters the relatively placid and usually numb routines of daily life.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Messy data wrecks forecasts, distorts reporting and wastes time.
    Thasha Batts, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Desolates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolates. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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