desolate

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.

   • a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house
   • I will make Jerusalem […] a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
   • And the silvery marish flowers that throng / The desolate creeks and pools among.
2. 2

   Barren and lifeless.

3. 3

   Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc.

   • desolate altars
4. ›+ 6 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Dismal or dreary.

   2. 5

      Sad, forlorn and hopeless.

      • He was left desolate by the early death of his wife.
      • voice of the poor and desolate
   3. 6

      To deprive of inhabitants.

      • York was so desolated just before the survey that it is not easy to estimate its ordinary population […]
   4. 7

      To devastate or lay waste somewhere.

      • Then Moath pointed where a cloud Of Locusts, from the desolated fields Of Syria, wing’d their way.
   5. 8

      To abandon or forsake something.

      • This completion of the Temple and attack upon Christians is the event that marks the apostasy that causes desolation, the detestable act that causes God to desolate (abandon) and destroy the Temple for the last time.
   6. 9

      To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.

      • It is not altogether uncommon to hear a reader whose heart has been desolated by the poignancy of a narrative complain that the writer is unemotional.
      • Kumalo stood shocked at the frightening and desolating words.

The neighborhood

• neighbordesolation