des´o|late|ly

des|o|late «adjective. DEHS uh liht; verb. DEHS uh layt», adjective, verb, -lat|ed, -lat|ing.

–adj.

1. not producing anything; laid waste; devastated; barren: »

desolate land.

SYNONYM(S): ravaged.

2. not lived in; deserted: »

a desolate house.

SYNONYM(S): uninhabited.

3. unhappy; forlorn; wretched: »

The hungry child looked desolate. The unemployed, by and large, are not the desolate-looking or acting lot of the 1930's (Wall Street Journal).

4. left alone; solitary; lonely: »

No one so utterly desolate, But some heart, though unknown, Responds unto his own (Longfellow).

SYNONYM(S): forsaken.

5. dreary; dismal: »

a desolate life.

–v.t.

1. to make unfit to live in; lay waste: »

The Vikings desolated the lands they attacked.

SYNONYM(S): devastate.

2. to make unhappy or forlorn: »

We are desolated to hear that you are going away.

3. to deprive of inhabitants. SYNONYM(S): depopulate.

╂[< Latin dēsōlātus, past participle of dēsōlāre < dē- (intensive) + sōlus alone]

–des´o|late|ly, adverb.

–des´o|late|ness, noun.

Synonym Study adjective. 3 Desolate, disconsolate mean unhappy and forlorn. Desolate implies feeling left alone, deserted by everyone, or, especially, separated from someone dear: »

I was desolate when my mother died.

Disconsolate implies absence of hope, consolation, and comfort: »

I was disconsolate when I lost my job and was unable to get another for several months.