desolate

/ˈde-sə-lət/

Middle English desolat, desolate "deserted, lonely, distressed," borrowed from Latin dēsōlātus, past participle of dēsōlāre "to leave all alone, forsake, empty of inhabitants," from dē- de--sōlāre, verbal derivative of sōlus "lone, acting without a partner, lonely, deserted," of uncertain origin

adjective

  1. devoid of inhabitants and visitors : deserted

  2. joyless, disconsolate, and sorrowful through or as if through separation from a loved one

  3. showing the effects of abandonment and neglect : dilapidated

a desolate abandoned town

alone solitary lonely lonesome lone forlorn desolate mean isolated from others. alone stresses the objective fact of being by oneself with slighter notion of emotional involvement than most of the remaining terms. solitary may indicate isolation as a chosen course

verb

  1. to make desolate:

  2. to deprive of inhabitants

  3. to lay waste

The neighboring towns were desolated.