Desolate
['des(ə)lət] or ['dɛsələt]
Definition
(adj.) crushed by grief; 'depressed and desolate of soul'; 'a low desolate wail' .
Typed by Clint--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Destitute or deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited; hence, gloomy; as, a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house.
(a.) Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars.
(a.) Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless.
(a.) Lost to shame; dissolute.
(a.) Destitute of; lacking in.
(v. t.) To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the flood.
(v. t.) To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a city.
Inputed by Ethel
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Uninhabited, unfrequented, desert, forsaken, dreary, wild, waste, barren.[2]. Lonely, solitary, companionless.[3]. Ruined, destroyed, devastated, ravaged, laid waste.[4]. Comfortless, cheerless, miserable, wretched, forlorn.
v. a. Ravage, devastate, depopulate, ruin, destroy, despoil, sack, ransack, lay waste.
Checker: Phelps
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Bereaved, forlorn, forsaken, comfortless, deserted, uninhabited, desert, wild,waste, bare, bleak, lonely
ANT:Cheered, cheerful, consoled, attended, cultivated, sheltered, fertile,luxuriant, animated, lively, gay, frequented
SYN:Waste, spoil, sack, plunder, pillage, ravage, devastate, depopulate
ANT:People, colonize, plant, develop, fertilize, cultivate, enrich, enliven
Typed by Anatole
Definition
v.t. to make solitary: to deprive of inhabitants: to lay waste.—adj. solitary: destitute of inhabitants: laid waste.—adv. Des′olately.—ns. Des′olateness; Desolat′er -or; Desolā′tion waste: destruction: a place desolated.—adj. Des′olatory.
Checker: Wendy
Examples
- I bemoaned my desolate widow and fatherless children. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- And then, from unseen lips, a cruel and mocking peal of laughter rang through the desolate place. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- But all desolate and unpeopled as it was, it was illustrious ground. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- A desolate air of utter and complete loneliness fell upon him, like a visible shade. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Not to deceive myself, I must reply--No: I felt desolate to a degree. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- After calling on the Government people we started to interview the telegraph operator at this most lonely and desolate spot. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The whole looked, as the host of the Rochester Arms had said, quite a desolate spot. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- How great a part the desolating loneliness of a city plays in seductions the individual histories in the report show. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Strange, and desolate above all things, like disembarking from the Styx into the desolated underworld, was this landing at night. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
Typed by Bartholdi