desolation
Bleak, lifeless wasteland
Desolation is a state of complete emptiness or devastation—a landscape stripped of life, a building reduced to rubble, a heart hollowed by grief.
The word applies to places and feelings alike: the desolation of a bombed city, the desolation of losing a child.
Where loneliness suggests being alone, desolation suggests being utterly forsaken.
Completely abandoned or discarded
- desertedLeft behind, uninhabited
- derelictAbandoned or neglectful
- neglectedNot given proper attention
- vacantWithout an occupant
uninhabited · forgotten · ruins · ghost town · wasteland · emptied · disused · crumbling
Uninhabitable barren region
- aridDevoid of water
- infertileUnable to produce offspring
- sterileFree from microorganisms
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
lifeless · unproductive · desert · drought · dustbowl · scorched · blighted · withered
Intense sorrow from loss
- despairTotal absence of hope
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
- hopelessnessState without hope
loneliness · sorrow · emptiness · bereft · forlorn · inconsolable · devastated · wretched
Separated from others
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
- solitudeState of being alone
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
- tundraFrigid treeless biome
arctic · frontier · hinterland · backcountry · uninhabited · godforsaken · no-man's-land · expanse
Decayed structural remains
- rubbleBroken building fragments
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- wreckageDestroyed remains of something
- debrisScattered broken fragments
aftermath · annihilation · obliteration · decimation · carnage · ravaged · bombed · scorched earth
forsaken
Completely abandoned or discarded
vacant · uninhabited · forgotten · ruins · ghost town · wasteland · emptied · disused · crumbling · overgrown
wasteland
Uninhabitable barren region
parched · lifeless · unproductive · desert · drought · dustbowl · scorched · blighted · withered · sere
grief
Intense sorrow from loss
hopelessness · loneliness · sorrow · emptiness · bereft · forlorn · inconsolable · devastated · wretched · despondent
isolated
Separated from others
- wildernessUncultivated, uninhabited natural region
- solitudeState of being alone
- outbackRemote interior wilderness
tundra · arctic · frontier · hinterland · backcountry · uninhabited · godforsaken · no-man's-land · expanse · void
ruins
Decayed structural remains
- rubbleBroken building fragments
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- wreckageDestroyed remains of something
debris · aftermath · annihilation · obliteration · decimation · carnage · ravaged · bombed · scorched earth · collapsed
- emotionsjoy, anger, fear, sadness, love
- bad feelingssadness, anger, fear, grief, sorrow
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- griefgrief, mourning, bereavement, sorrow, grieving
- desolationbleakness, barrenness, emptiness, wasteland, devastation
- despairdespair, hopelessness, despondency, dejection, anguish
desolationfertility
Capacity for reproduction
abundance · lushness · luxuriance · verdancy · fecundity
desolationcivilization
Advanced organized human society
habitation · cultivation · upkeep · repair · preservation