desolation Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the state of being decayed or destroyed
    devastation.
  2. noun a bleak and desolate atmosphere
    bareness; bleakness; nakedness.
    • the nakedness of the landscape
  3. noun sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned
    forlornness; loneliness.
  4. noun an event that results in total destruction
    devastation.

WordNet

Des`o*la"tion noun
Etymology
F. désolation, L. desolatio.
Definitions
  1. The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
    Unto the end of the war desolations are determined. Dan. ix. 26.
  2. The state of being desolated or laid waste; ruin; solitariness; destitution; gloominess.
    You would have sold your king to slaughter, . . . And his whole kingdom into desolation. Shak.
  3. A place or country wasted and forsaken.
    How is Babylon become a desolation! Jer. l. 23.
    Syn. -- Waste; ruin; destruction; havoc; devastation; ravage; sadness; destitution; melancholy; gloom; gloominess.

Webster 1913