1. Having little or no vegetation; lifeless
   "the desolate surface of the moon";
   - bare, barren, bleak, stark
    
2. Crushed by grief
   "depressed and desolate of soul"; "a low desolate wail"
    
3. Deserted or abandoned
   "The desolate shopping mall had no customers"

1. Cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
   "The storm desolated the coastal town";
   - lay waste to, waste, devastate, ravage, lay waste
    
2. Reduce in population
   "The epidemic desolated the countryside";
   - depopulate
    
3. Leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
   "His partner desolated him just before the presentation";
   - abandon, forsake [literary], desert

Derived forms: desolated, desolates, desolating

See also: disconsolate, inconsolable, inhospitable, unconsolable

Type of: destroy, leave, reduce, ruin, shrink

Encyclopedia: Desolate