Basic Details
Word: Desolation
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A state of ruin and emptiness, where a place has been destroyed or abandoned; also a deep feeling of loneliness and sadness.
Synonyms: devastation, ruin, bleakness, misery
Antonyms: joy, comfort
How to Spell Desolation
Syllables: des - o - la - tion
Tricky part: There is one s after de and the next vowel is o: des-o-la-tion. Students write desalation, dessolation or desolasion.
Watch out for: desalation, dessolation, desolasion
Memory tip: A desolate place is left all alone, almost solo: hear the sol in de-SOL-ation and write o after the s.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The war left a scene of desolation where the market once stood.
Example 2: She felt a deep desolation when her best friend moved to another city.
Example 3: Nothing but sand and desolation stretched before the travellers.
Fun Fact
On his voyage of 1776, Captain James Cook called the remote Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean the Island of Desolation.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to desolation as used in the sentence:
The film showed the desolation of the forest after a fire had swept through it, leaving only black stumps.
a) beauty
b) celebration
c) devastation
d) growth
Show answer
c) devastation. Desolation here is ruin, the same as devastation.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
des_l_tion
a) e, a
b) a, a
c) o, a
d) o, o
Show answer
c) o, a. The vowels run o then a: des-o-l-a-tion.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
A feeling of dlntiaeoos came over the old man as he walked through his empty, flooded house.
a) desolation
b) isolation
c) consolation
d) desalination
Show answer
a) desolation. Only desolation uses exactly these ten letters; isolation has no d or e, consolation needs a c, and desalination is too long.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which scene best shows desolation?
a) a ruined village with no one left in it
b) a busy market on a festival day
c) a wedding feast with music and dancing
d) a crowded school sports day
Show answer
a) a ruined village with no one left in it
2. The adjective related to desolation is ____.
a) desolate
b) desolant
c) desolute
d) disolate
Show answer
a) desolate
