Standard Lemma guide

desolation

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˌdɛsəˈleɪʃən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • CMU ARPABET: D EH2 S AH0 L EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The state of being desolated or laid waste

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ruin, solitariness, destitution, gloom, gloominess

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A place or country wasted and forsaken.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

an event that results in total destruction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: devastation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ruin, ruination

5

noun

Meaning 5

sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: forlornness, loneliness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sadness, unhappiness

6

noun

Meaning 6

a bleak and desolate atmosphere

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the nakedness of the landscape

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bleakness, bareness, nakedness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: gloom, gloominess, glumness

7

noun

Meaning 7

the state of being decayed or destroyed

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: devastation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: deterioration, impairment

Narrower terms: ruin, ruination, blight

History

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English desolacioun, from Middle French, Old French desolacion f, from Latin dēsōlātiō f.

Across languages

Translations

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: обезлюдяване (obezljudjavane) — act of desolating or laying waste
  • Catalan: desolació — act of desolating or laying waste
  • Chinese Mandarin: 撂荒 (liàohuāng) — act of desolating or laying waste
  • German: Verwüsten — act of desolating or laying waste
  • German: Verwüstung — act of desolating or laying waste
  • Bulgarian: изоставеност (izostavenost) — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • Catalan: desolació — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • German: Verwüstetsein — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • German: Verwüstung — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • German: Verlassenheit — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • German: Trostlosigkeit — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • Latin: vāstitās — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • Portuguese: desolação — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • Ottoman Turkish: خراب (harab) — state of being desolated or laid waste
  • Bulgarian: пустош (pustoš) — place or country wasted and forsaken
  • Chinese Mandarin: 荒地 (huāngdì) — place or country wasted and forsaken
  • German: Ort des Elends — place or country wasted and forsaken
  • German: Wüstung — place or country wasted and forsaken
  • German: Wüstenei — place or country wasted and forsaken
  • German: Wüste — place or country wasted and forsaken
  • Plautdietsch: Eed — place or country wasted and forsaken
Real reading context

desolation in complete knowledge articles