"desolate" in the verb sense
1. abandon, forsake, desolate, desert
leave someone who needs or counts on you leave in the lurch
"The mother deserted her children"
2. depopulate, desolate
reduce in population
"The epidemic depopulated the countryside"
3. lay waste to, waste, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourge
cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
"The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion"
"desolate" in the adjective sense
1. bare, barren, bleak, desolate, stark
providing no shelter or sustenance
"bare rocky hills"
"barren lands"
"the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes"
"the desolate surface of the moon"
"a stark landscape"
2. desolate
crushed by grief
"depressed and desolate of soul"
"a low desolate wail"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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