Word Direct Answers

What does "desolate" mean?

Desolate: And the silvery marish flowers that throng The desolate creeks and pools among. Tennyson.

Additional senses

  1. 2.Laid waste; in a ruinous condition; neglected; destroyed; as, desolate altars.
  2. 3.Left alone; forsaken; lonely; comfortless. Have mercy upon, for I am desolate. Ps. xxv.
  3. 4.Voice of the poor and desolate. Keble.
  4. 5.Lost to shame; dissolute. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  5. 6.Destitute of; lacking in. [Obs.] I were right now of tales desolate. Chaucer.
  6. 7.To make desolate; to leave alone; to deprive of inhabitants; as, the earth was nearly desolated by the flood.
  7. 8.To lay waste; to ruin; to ravage; as, a fire desolates a city. Constructed in the very heart of a desolating war. Sparks.

Sources