Meanings
plural desolations
- countableuncountableThe act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
- countableuncountableThe state of being desolated or laid waste
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 1:26–271 more example
One or two uncovered masses appeared like the lingering foot-prints of desolation; but in general where the statelier trees had not taken root, the soil was luxuriantly covered with heath and the golden blossomed furze.
1823, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Forget Me Not 1824, The Indian Orphan, page 68Synonyms: ruin, solitariness, destitution, gloom, gloominess
- countableuncountableA place or country wasted and forsaken.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe state of being desolated or laid waste
More synonyms by meaning
nounsadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindēsōlātiō f
- Old Frenchdesolacion f
- Middle Englishdesolacioun
- Englishdesolation
Inherited from Middle English desolacioun, from Middle French, Old French desolacion f, from Latin dēsōlātiō f.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian обезлюдяване, изоставеност
- обезлюдяване (obezljudjavane)act of desolating or laying waste
- изоставеност (izostavenost)state of being desolated or laid waste
- пустош (pustoš)place or country wasted and forsaken
Catalan desolació, desolació
- desolacióact of desolating or laying waste
- desolacióstate of being desolated or laid waste
Chinese Mandarin 撂荒, 荒地
- 撂荒 (liàohuāng)act of desolating or laying waste
- 荒地 (huāngdì)place or country wasted and forsaken
German Verwüsten, Verwüstung
- Verwüstenact of desolating or laying waste
- Verwüstungact of desolating or laying waste
- Verwüstetseinstate of being desolated or laid waste
- Verwüstungstate of being desolated or laid waste
- Verlassenheitstate of being desolated or laid waste
- Trostlosigkeitstate of being desolated or laid waste
- Ort des Elendsplace or country wasted and forsaken
- Wüstungplace or country wasted and forsaken
- Wüsteneiplace or country wasted and forsaken
- Wüsteplace or country wasted and forsaken
Latin vāstitās
- vāstitāsstate of being desolated or laid waste
Portuguese desolação
- desolaçãostate of being desolated or laid waste
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with desolation
Cite this entry
desolation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desolation
“desolation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desolation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “desolation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/desolation.
Source: desolation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.