Definition of: desolate

(des′ə·lit) adjective
1. Destitute of inhabitants, dwellings, etc.; laid waste; deserted; abandoned.
2. Lonely; solitary.
3. Without friends; forlorn; sorrowful; afflicted; gloomy. See synonyms under BLEAK¹, SAD.
—v.t. (des′·ə·lāt) ·lat·ed, ·lat·ing
1. To deprive of inhabitants.
2. To lay waste, devastate.
3. To make sorrowful, wretched, or forlorn.
4. To forsake; abandon. [<L desolatus, pp. of desolare <de- completely + solus alone]
—des′o·late·ly adverb
—des′o·late·ness noun
—des′o·lat′er, des′o·la′tor noun