adjective / verb
desolate
DES-uh-lut/ˈdesələt/
Deprived of life, comfort, or companionship.
The abandoned town looks desolate, with empty streets and crumbling houses.
Etymology
The pieces express making something completely lonely. Applied to places, this became being deserted or uninhabited; applied to people, it conveyed being deprived of companionship or comfort.
In context
in the background that um raised plateau in the back, is the sacred mountain of Gebel Barkal and then along behind it where you see the greenery in this otherwise desolate land
More examples
- She feels desolate without her closest friend nearby.
- We cross a desolate plain with no houses in sight.
- Years of war desolated the countryside.
Forms
desolate · more desolate · most desolate · desolates · desolated · desolating
desolation noun — Bleak emptiness or overwhelming loneliness and sadness.
desolately adverb — In a lonely or deeply miserable way.