desolate

The delicate pitter-patter of a drum’s cymbal is the only sound to break through the thick brick wall of the obscure performance venue, Sun Space, and reach the wide, desolate Sunland Boulevard.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo was desolate, insisting everyone in the game is now confused as to what constituted a foul in the penalty area at set-pieces.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

On de-boarding, the last station bore the look of a desolate Soviet-era structure rather than a bustling train terminal in a city where crowds typically jostle for space.

From BBC ● Apr. 19, 2026

During one orbit, Anders captured Earth's brilliant blue hue standing out against the vast darkness of space and accentuated by the desolate, grey lunar horizon in the foreground.

From Barron's ● Apr. 7, 2026

Most of the way now lay through the Strellon Game Reserve, country that was more desolate and rugged than anything they had yet encountered.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

He visits Barbara's soup kitchen shelter and proves with an open checkbook that he can bribe the poor and buy the Army, which desolates Barbara.

From Time Magazine Archive

But your misrepresentation which pained me most, in fact desolates me to the extent that I am unfit for work, is your statement that I weigh 200 Ib.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sudden death of Leontes' young son desolates him.

From Time Magazine Archive

To secure this we must stop the war that now desolates our once happy and favored country.

From The Boys of '61 or, Four Years of Fighting, Personal Observations with the Army and Navy by Coffin, Charles Carleton

Contagion's blast destroys at Jove's command, And wasteful famine desolates the land.

From Mosaics of Grecian History by Willson, Marcius

"This was the first time I realized what an enormous task it was to take a piece of desolated desert and turn it into a blooming oasis," Zer writes.

From Salon ● Nov. 20, 2024

Hospital director Dr Muhammad Abu Salima has called on the WHO and the UN to help the medical teams and patients "leave this desolated place".

From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2023

A man in his late 40s and his son, about 10, both unnamed, are walking a desolated road.

From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021

Even in the depths of the pandemic — even when the world locked down, leaving billions isolated and desolated — there were those who danced.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2021

But there were not many black people visible on this day and Paradise had the look of a town desolated by plague or the rumor of plague.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

When D’Amore isn’t speaking — and for most of those three minutes and 40 seconds, she is silent — her body language is desolating.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2019

“The simple way...to put an end to the savage and desolating war now waged by the slaveholders, is to strike down slavery itself, the primal cause of that war.”

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

It sounds as if your mother is relatively young herself, so this is a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s which is even more desolating.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2015

As the actors take up their places, a desolating video begins to play.

From The Guardian ● May 11, 2013

From a distant radio I heard the desolating music of a dance orchestra.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin