overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

desolate.

Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.

8 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈdɛs.ə.lət/
  1. Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.

    a desolate isle; a desolate wilderness; a desolate house
  2. Barren and lifeless.

  3. Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc.

    desolate altars
  4. Dismal or dreary.

  5. Sad, forlorn and hopeless.

    He was left desolate by the early death of his wife.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English desolat(e). See Etymology 2 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

verb/ˈdɛsəleɪt/
  1. To deprive of inhabitants.

  2. To devastate or lay waste somewhere.

  3. To abandon or forsake something.

  4. To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English desolaten (“to desolate”), from desolat(e) (“desolate”), from Latin dēsōlātus, perfect passive participle of dēsōlō (“to leave alone, make lonely, lay waste, desolate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) for more.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

desolate has 8 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

desolate studiodesolate workshello, desolate

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.