The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - desolateadj.

1) solitary, lonely, isolated, deserted, forlorn, forsaken, friendless, alone, abandoned, neglected; desert, uninhabited, empty, unfrequented, bare, barren, bleak, remote: He felt desolate after his wife's death. Tristan da Cunha is a group of four desolate islands in the Atlantic. 2) laid waste, ruined, devastated, ravaged, destroyed: The explosion left the surrounding countryside desolate. 3) dreary, dismal, wretched, joyless, cheerless, comfortless, miserable, unhappy, down, disconsolate, sad, melancholy, sorrowful, forlorn, mournful, woebegone, gloomy, broken-hearted, heavy-hearted, inconsolable, dejected, downcast, downhearted, dispirited, low-spirited, depressed, melancholy, spiritless, despondent, dismal, distressed, discouraged, hopeless: He has brought some happiness into her desolate existence. --v. 4) depopulate: The country was desolated by famine. 5) destroy, devastate, ruin, lay waste, despoil, ravage, demolish, obliterate, annihilate, raze, gut: Invaders desolated the countryside. 6) dismay, dishearten, depress, daunt, dispirit, sadden, deject, dispirit, discourage: He was either buoyed up by renewed hope or desolated by despair.