Word of the Day Archive
Saturday July 21, 2012
desolate \DES-uh-leyt\
, verb:
1. To lay waste; devastate.
2. To deprive of inhabitants; depopulate.
3. To make disconsolate.
4. To forsake or abandon.
adjective:
1. Barren or laid waste; devastated: a treeless, desolate landscape.
2. Deprived or destitute of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited.
3. Solitary; lonely: a desolate place.
So she hastened to Sing Chando and prayed him not to desolate the earth...
-- Rev. P. O. Bodding, Folklore of the Santal Parganas
Could he bring himself to desolate her by a refusal?
-- Arnold Bennett, Clayhanger
Desolate is derived from the Latin word dēsōlātus meaning "forsaken" from the root sōlāre meaning "to make lonely."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for desolate
