desolate
verb/ˈdesəleɪt/
/ˈdesəleɪt/
[usually passive] (literary)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they desolate | /ˈdesəleɪt/ /ˈdesəleɪt/ |
| he / she / it desolates | /ˈdesəleɪts/ /ˈdesəleɪts/ |
| past simple desolated | /ˈdesəleɪtɪd/ /ˈdesəleɪtɪd/ |
| past participle desolated | /ˈdesəleɪtɪd/ /ˈdesəleɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form desolating | /ˈdesəleɪtɪŋ/ /ˈdesəleɪtɪŋ/ |
- to make somebody feel sad and without hope
- be desolated (by something) She had been desolated by the death of her friend.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin desolatus ‘abandoned’, past participle of desolare, from de- ‘thoroughly’ + solus ‘alone’.Definitions on the go
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desolate