desolation

noun

des·​o·​la·​tion ˌde-sə-ˈlā-shən 

ˌde-zə-

1

: the action of desolating

the pitiful desolation and slaughter of World War I

—D. F. Fleming

2

a

: grief, sadness

… he put his trembling hands to his head, and gave a wild ringing scream, the cry of desolation.

—George Eliot

b

: loneliness

3

: devastation, ruin

a scene of utter desolation

4

: barren wasteland

looked out across the desolation

Synonyms

• blue devils
• blues
• dejection
• depression
• despond
• despondence
• despondency
• disconsolateness
• dispiritedness
• doldrums
• dolefulness
• downheartedness
• dreariness
• dumps
• forlornness
• gloom
• gloominess
• glumness
• heartsickness
• joylessness
• melancholy
• miserableness
• mopes
• mournfulness
• oppression
• sadness
• sorrowfulness
• unhappiness

Examples of desolation in a Sentence

She sank into a state of desolation and despair.

photos that show the desolation of war

Recent Examples on the Web

The 22-year-old has been the player exciting United fans with his bravery on the ball and determination without it, a shining hope amid a season of desolation both on the pitch, where the team’s play has been mainly painful, and in the club’s offices, where redundancies are sucking away morale. —Laurie Whitwell, The Athletic, 15 Feb. 2025

Forgetting Abraham Lincoln Sarah Browne’s neglect of Lincoln, compared with the ceaseless remembrance of her daughter, did not lessen her desolation over the assassination. —JSTOR Daily, 15 Feb. 2025

How will the last cockeyed optimist in popular culture deal with the desolation of a husband’s death? —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 7 Feb. 2025

Wildfires in the Los Angeles area still burn, but the desolation has already left 10 dead and more than 10,000 structures destroyed. —Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English desolacion, desolacioun "state of distress or hardship, feeling of distress, affliction," borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French desolacion, borrowed from Late Latin dēsōlātiōn-, dēsōlātiō "abandonment, solitude," from Latin dēsōlāre "to leave all alone, forsake, empty of inhabitants" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at desolate entry 1

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for desolation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

desolation

noun

des·​o·​la·​tion ˌdes-ə-ˈlā-shən 

ˌdez-

1

: the action of desolating

2

: sadness resulting from grief or loneliness

3

: the condition of being desolated : ruin

4

: lifeless land