How to Use desolate in a Sentence

desolate

1 of 2 adjective
Definition of desolatenext
Synonyms for desolatenext
  • The board noted that the mall is dark and desolate at night.
    — Stu Bykofsky, Philly.com, 4 Oct. 2017
  • The worker said the pilot swerved the plane to its crash site which is in a desolate area.
    — Nimi Princewill and Stephanie Busari, CNN, 21 Feb. 2021
  • At first glance, the area looks desolate, hardly a place for a wildlife refuge.
    — Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2022
  • The finished song is desolate but resilient, a hell of a plaint.
    — Lindsay Zoladz, New York Times, 7 Dec. 2022
  • In the middle of a desolate road, Villanelle kisses Eve on the cheek.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 16 Apr. 2022
  • But as the flight continued, the fall colors gave way to a desolate sea of gray and black.
    — Joseph Serna, Los Angeles Times, 21 Dec. 2020
  • But today the lands the Amur cuts through are desolate, endless and poor.
    — Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2021
  • But even if the Green Sahara is a thing of the past, the desert today is anything but desolate.
    — Nick Roll, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 May 2023
  • Abby has not been found to this day -- not in the landfill, nor in the desolate mesas nearby.
    — Susan Mallie, CBS News, 12 May 2018
  • One of them falls back to Earth, landing in a desolate area in Arizona.
    — David Canfield, EW.com, 26 June 2019
  • Rome, takes place in the desolate outskirts of the city, where two children have had a vision of the Madonna.
    — Keith Christiansen, WSJ, 4 June 2022
  • Reid was born in the desolate mining town of Searchlight.
    — Lisa Mascaro, ajc, 12 Jan. 2022
  • The vast parking lot was desolate except for a small patch of cars, some with no air in their tires.
    — Rick Rojas, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2018
  • The trips on desolate, dusty roads could sometimes take hours.
    — Tod Leonard, sandiegouniontribune.com, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The search begins at sunrise, with eight-and-a-half miles of desolate beach to cover.
    — Lawrence Specker | [email protected], al, 29 June 2023
  • The seemingly desolate area of the Nevada desert is the source of the green energy used to power the game.
    — Faris Tanyos, CBS News, 11 Feb. 2024
  • Buildings and homes were boarded up across the region, and the streets of the city’s small downtown were desolate.
    — Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2020
  • Between each hole, the drive is stunning and desolate and serene.
    — Oliver Horovitz, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 May 2017
  • The world of ‘Pig’ is as desolate and cruel as ours, but smaller.
    — Mark Olsen Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2021
  • The Chevrolet gasser blasted through salt air across a desolate stretch of land.
    — Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug. 2019
  • The region is so flat and so desolate that the conveyor stands out, even from space.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Both the setting and the winter season lend the film a cool, almost desolate, mood.
    — Amar Chebib, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2022
  • The whole world looks busy yet desolate: the precise mood of a lonely subway ride.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 11 Aug. 2021
  • The video opens with desolate scenes of the city, sirens blaring in the distance, as a woman dressed in black walks into view.
    — Time, 27 Sep. 2022
  • Spacious, yes, but the old one felt more desolate as a result.
    — Lydia Wilson, The New York Review of Books, 8 Jan. 2020
  • The case turned when police found Woodworth's body on a desolate dirt road near the farmhouse.
    — Jamie Yuccas, CBS News, 29 Jan. 2022
  • The freight train had been traveling through a desolate stretch of desert next to Highway 111, which runs along the eastern coast of the Salton Sea.
    — Jonah Valdez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2022
  • The twin sisters say Vincent Simmons led them to a desolate road, forced Laborde into the trunk of the car, and then raped the two of them.
    — Hannah Vair, CBS News, 20 May 2022
  • The attacks created a desolate morning scene in the capital, with most cafes and restaurants remaining closed.
    — Illia Novikov and Hanna Arhirova, USA TODAY, 2 Jan. 2024
  • Set in northern Alaska during the polar night, the series follows a town that gets sucked into a massive mystery after the bodies of six scientists are found frozen on the desolate ice.
    — Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024
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desolate

2 of 2 verb
  • For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed.
    — Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020
  • Scar then proceeds to desolate the kingdom, with the help of hyenas, while Simba, in exile, grows up to become a pleasure-hunting, grub-eating sluggard.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019
  • Night clubs were closed, restaurants abandoned, shopping malls desolate.
    — Karl Taro Greenfeld, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2020
  • Tourism in the city has dropped since the coronavirus pandemic began, leaving New York’s normally busy shopping districts desolate.
    — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, 12 Aug. 2020
  • Marville traced the urban growth of Paris, from ramshackle construction sites to burgeoning neighborhoods, desolate outskirts and how quickly Paris modernized in the mid 19th century.
    — Nadja Sayej, Forbes, 7 June 2021
  • But by summer’s end, the early excitement had died down and many sidewalk tables were languishing unfilled, leaving neighborhood streets desolate rather than boisterous, North End restaurateurs said then.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 28 July 2021
  • For eight weeks, the streets of Paris were empty of traffic and silent, the sidewalks desolate, all but essential food stores closed.
    — Rachel Donadio, The New York Review of Books, 23 July 2020
  • Scar then proceeds to desolate the kingdom, with the help of hyenas, while Simba, in exile, grows up to become a pleasure-hunting, grub-eating sluggard.
    — Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 19 July 2019
  • Night clubs were closed, restaurants abandoned, shopping malls desolate.
    — Karl Taro Greenfeld, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2020
  • Tourism in the city has dropped since the coronavirus pandemic began, leaving New York’s normally busy shopping districts desolate.
    — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, 12 Aug. 2020
  • Marville traced the urban growth of Paris, from ramshackle construction sites to burgeoning neighborhoods, desolate outskirts and how quickly Paris modernized in the mid 19th century.
    — Nadja Sayej, Forbes, 7 June 2021
  • But by summer’s end, the early excitement had died down and many sidewalk tables were languishing unfilled, leaving neighborhood streets desolate rather than boisterous, North End restaurateurs said then.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 28 July 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'desolate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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