1
as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
a desolate house abandoned many years ago
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 desolate
Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.
—John Lonsdale, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2025
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2025
Bowman’s Roseville French ring training facility sits on a large, fairly desolate parcel near Denio’s.
—Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Adjective
A lot of people have this idea of the north as being cold and desolate, and maybe people, once upon a time, lived up there, but don't anymore.
—Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
The Memphis rapper began the show with dramatics, rising on a giant platform with her back to the audience as a screen behind her projected the image of a desolate street.
—John Lonsdale, Rolling Stone, 12 Apr. 2025
The food and atmosphere had people from across the city willing to venture to a desolate stretch of Bushwick.
—Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2025
Bowman’s Roseville French ring training facility sits on a large, fairly desolate parcel near Denio’s.
—Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desolate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolate
Adjective
-
At the same time, others who attended this year’s California Democratic Party Convention dismissed any notion that the future of the Democratic Party is bleak.—
Linh Tat,
Oc Register,
31 May 2025
-
The early options on the GOP side are bleak: Neither Donalds nor Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife who’s said to be interested in succeeding him, is the moderate Florida so desperately needs now.—
Orlando Sentinel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
Set in a town ruled by absurd karate law, the film watches as a lonely teen forms an unlikely bond with the ghost of his late father’s favorite action hero.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
27 May 2025
-
If there was no Stitch, Lilo would have remained a lonely girl, and Nani silently suffering from her massive responsibilities.—
Laura Sirikul,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
Adjective
-
The festival was deliberately planned for the barren weeks in June after college students left and before the summer concert and festival season kicked in.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
25 May 2025
-
The Bureau’s new research station on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, with its high altitude and barren landscape, would prove to be the ideal collection spot.—
Ashley Braun,
Smithsonian Magazine,
19 May 2025
Verb
-
However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Tanasia Kenney,
Miami Herald,
22 May 2025
-
But that stumble constitutes Hwang’s only confrontation with the hypocrisy that ruins Yellow Face and its inherent PBS conceit.—
Armond White,
National Review,
21 May 2025
Adjective
-
With their golden yellow rays surrounding a dark cone, Rudbeckias are quintessential summer blooms.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
22 May 2025
-
Related Stories All About Jalen Brunson's Parents, Sandra and Rick Brunson See Photos of Timothée Chalamet, Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and More On May 16, Chalamet wore a Chrome Hearts tracksuit in a dark navy blue.—
Starr Bowenbank,
People.com,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
On his release, Stern went on to spend the 1950s ping-ponging between New York and California, for a time living on a disused laundry barge in Sausalito.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
3 Mar. 2025
-
One of the most powerful scenes in Sugarcane takes place in a disused barn where, over a period of decades, Indigenous children worked under the lash.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Eagerly drinking the Kool-Aid is Simone DeWitt (Alcock), a formerly impoverished but deeply ambitious upstart from Buffalo who gets a taste of the lifestyle of the rich and famous as Michaela's uppity assistant.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
-
That could mean removing spending from public school meal programs for impoverished children, removing access to health care to people with developmental disabilities, or cutting Social Security payments to even the deficit.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 May 2025
Verb
-
Another key feature of algae oil is its high smoke point of 535 degrees—the temperature at which oil begins to break down, release dangerous chemicals, and destroy its nutrients.—
Jonathan Purtell,
Verywell Health,
27 May 2025
-
During the week of my embed, the Russian military identified and destroyed a few of the Vampire pilots’ positions.—
Nataliya Gumenyuk,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolate. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share