wasteland
Desolate, empty terrain
A wasteland is barren, desolate land—desert, ruins, or territory left empty by destruction or neglect: The drought turned farmland into wasteland.
Figuratively, wasteland describes any sphere lacking vitality or value: a cultural wasteland, the vast wasteland of television.
The word suggests not just emptiness but squandered potential.
Bleak and abandoned
- barrenUnable to produce
- aridDevoid of water
- parchedExtremely dry or thirsty
- sterileFree from microorganisms
infertile · desiccated · inhospitable · bleak · stark · harsh · scorched · dusty
To leave behind completely
- tundraFrigid treeless biome
- badlandsArid, heavily eroded terrain
- scrublandArea of low shrubs
- heathOpen land with shrubs
moor · steppe · dust bowl · salt flat · hardpan · moonscape · crater · ravine
Depicting oppressive imagined societies
- nuclearOf atomic energy
- falloutPost-blast atmospheric particles
- irradiatedExposed to electromagnetic energy
- survivorsThose still alive after
bunker · Mad Max · scorched earth · bombed-out · devastation · catastrophe · aftermath · hellscape
Relating to the soul
- intellectualConcerning thought and reason
- moralConcerning right conduct
- voidWithout legal effect
- emptinessAbsence of substance
meaninglessness · nihilism · stagnation · decline · decay · vapid · barrenness · soulless
Without legal effect
- desolationState of complete emptiness
- expanseUnbroken area of space
- nothingnessComplete absence of existence
- vacancyUnoccupied space or position
hollowness · absence · silence · stillness · solitude · isolation · forsaken · lonesome
Decayed structural remains
- rubbleBroken building fragments
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- derelictAbandoned or neglectful
- dilapidatedRuined through neglect
crumbling · deterioration · blight · corrosion · rot · abandoned · forsaken · neglected
desolate
Bleak and abandoned
sterile · infertile · desiccated · inhospitable · bleak · stark · harsh · scorched · dusty · droughty
desert
To leave behind completely
heath · moor · steppe · dust bowl · salt flat · hardpan · moonscape · crater · ravine · gulch
dystopian
Depicting oppressive imagined societies
- nuclearOf atomic energy
- falloutPost-blast atmospheric particles
- irradiatedExposed to electromagnetic energy
survivors · bunker · Mad Max · scorched earth · bombed-out · devastation · catastrophe · aftermath · hellscape · mutant
spiritual
Relating to the soul
- intellectualConcerning thought and reason
- moralConcerning right conduct
- voidWithout legal effect
emptiness · meaninglessness · nihilism · stagnation · decline · decay · vapid · barrenness · soulless · hollow
void
Without legal effect
- desolationState of complete emptiness
- expanseUnbroken area of space
- nothingnessComplete absence of existence
vacancy · hollowness · absence · silence · stillness · solitude · isolation · forsaken · lonesome · forlorn
ruins
Decayed structural remains
dilapidated · crumbling · deterioration · blight · corrosion · rot · abandoned · forsaken · neglected · disused
brownfield
Previously developed, possibly polluted land
- contaminatedMade impure by contact
- pollutedMade impure by contaminants
- toxicCapable of causing harm
slag · tailings · smelter · refinery · smokestack · rusted · corroded · factory · plant · mill
- land typespark, croplands, reserve, rangelands, forest
- Sci-Fi Settingsspace station, spaceship, starship, alien planet, moon base
- future worldsdystopia, utopia, megacity, Mars colony, cyberpunk
- neglected landfallow field, abandoned farm, overgrown lot
- barren landsbadlands, drylands, scrubland, salt flats, dust bowl
- desertsand, sand dunes, sand dune, dune, dunes
wastelandmetropolis
Large important city
city · settlement · civilization · habitation · urban center
wastelandpromised land
Hoped-for place of fulfillment
utopia · fertile ground · treasure trove · goldmine · wellspring
- nuclear wastelandLand poisoned by radiation
- frozen wastelandDesolate ice-covered region