1
as in bleak
causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer
spent her last years in the disconsolate environs of a cheap boarding house
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2
as in unhappy
feeling unhappiness
she was utterly disconsolate when her best friend moved away
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Recent Examples of disconsolate
Last week, a moving van transported Andrew’s possessions from his home in Windsor’s Royal Lodge to a farm on the King’s Sandringham estate, after he was photographed, disconsolate, riding a horse.
—
Sam Knight, New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2026
Amby is disconsolate on the drive home.
—Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
As Wilshere and his players greeted the Norwich fans, across the Riverside pitch, Michael Carrick and his Middlesbrough squad were conducting a disconsolate lap of appreciation in a largely emptied stadium.
—Michael Walker, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025
After noticing disconsolate tourists wandering the perimeter, Taskinen proposed installing a café on the ground floor and restoring the building’s four spacious apartments into modest but comfortable rooms filled with Artek furniture.
—Michael Snyder, Travel + Leisure, 14 Apr. 2025
My father, disconsolate, would pace around what had once been their home in an exaggerated performance of his own uselessness.
—Hazlitt, 2 Apr. 2025
Outside, a disconsolate Santa presses his forehead against the building next door.
—Liam Sherwin-Murray, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
By the time the judge adjourned the court, Bryan was disconsolate.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
Context: Harris — who served as district attorney of San Francisco, as attorney general of California and as a U.S. senator from the state between 2017 and 2021 — could help electrify an exhausted, disconsolate party.
—Jacob Knutson, Axios, 22 July 2024
Sam Knight, New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2026
Amby is disconsolate on the drive home.
—Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
As Wilshere and his players greeted the Norwich fans, across the Riverside pitch, Michael Carrick and his Middlesbrough squad were conducting a disconsolate lap of appreciation in a largely emptied stadium.
—Michael Walker, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025
After noticing disconsolate tourists wandering the perimeter, Taskinen proposed installing a café on the ground floor and restoring the building’s four spacious apartments into modest but comfortable rooms filled with Artek furniture.
—Michael Snyder, Travel + Leisure, 14 Apr. 2025
My father, disconsolate, would pace around what had once been their home in an exaggerated performance of his own uselessness.
—Hazlitt, 2 Apr. 2025
Outside, a disconsolate Santa presses his forehead against the building next door.
—Liam Sherwin-Murray, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
By the time the judge adjourned the court, Bryan was disconsolate.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
Context: Harris — who served as district attorney of San Francisco, as attorney general of California and as a U.S. senator from the state between 2017 and 2021 — could help electrify an exhausted, disconsolate party.
—Jacob Knutson, Axios, 22 July 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disconsolate
Adjective
-
After a week of bleak, rainy weather, spring breakers finally got a nice beach day on Friday.—
Amanda Rosa,
Miami Herald,
21 Mar. 2026
-
In her endeavor to exalt such a bleak world, Zuniga seems to be battling herself.—
Vrinda Jagota,
Pitchfork,
19 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The post got 22,000 views, including from unhappy folks living next to data centers, but no helpful information.—
Denise Crosby,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Against this backdrop, the unhappy Angine shops compulsively in a department store and develops a fascination with a playful salesgirl.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Has your pursuit of pilot wave theory been a lonely one?—
Tim Folger,
Scientific American,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Simply put, they are based on the assumption that an unmarried person would be lonely in the afterlife.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
So is this really worth being sad about?—
Andrew P. Collins,
The Drive,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Perhaps the saddest was the case of a Garden Grove gas station owner who was convicted of misdemeanors for illegally giving customers preferential treatment.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
This provides an initially pretty good, if incredibly depressing, joke.—
Chase Hutchinson,
IndieWire,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Four of his early films Wiseman described as some of the most depressing films ever made.—
David Pogue,
CBS News,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In the novel The Midnight Library, Matt Haig tells the story of Nora, a depressed woman beset by her life and its disappointments.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Mar. 2026
-
The production also changes the seven scenes that make up the show in which classic child characters from Christmas specials and movies are seen as depressed middle-aged folks drinking away their holiday traumas in a small bar.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
14 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In 2016, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a somber visit to the Pearl Harbor memorial site alongside then-President Barack Obama.—
Kathryn Watson,
CBS News,
19 Mar. 2026
-
But the mood at the event that February evening was notably sombre.—
Rachel Monroe,
New Yorker,
15 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The story unfolds in Enoshima, Japan, where a middle-aged salaryman, unable to submit his resignation letter, meets a heartbroken young Korean man at a ramen shop.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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The comedy lies in the unwavering sincerity with which every ridiculous twist is treated, from one-night stands with a cuy fighter and multiple fires to violent abductions and a heartbroken lover riding her motorcycle off a cliff.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Disconsolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disconsolate. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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