Desolate
Desolate adjective - Causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer.
Usage example: a desolate house abandoned many years ago
Lonely is a synonym for desolate in characteristic topic. In some cases you can use "Lonely" instead the word "Desolate" as an adjective or an adverb, when it comes to topics like full, depressed, miserable, unused. popular alternative
Lonely
Lonely adjective - Not being in the company of others.
Usage example: a single lonely cactus in the desert
Desolate is a synonym for lonely in forlorn topic. You can use "Desolate" instead the word "Lonely" as an adjective or an adverb, if it concerns topics such as deserted, characteristic, full, happy. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
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In Chobits, Shimbo finds Takako Shimizu sitting on a swing, lonely and desolate after her husband has locked her out of their house.
Source: Trauma Swing -
Very much in the vein of previous franchise installments, Rey is introduced as a lonely youth living day-to-day on a desolate desert planet.
Source: Film / The Force Awakens - He's lonely, desolate, full of self-loathing from the contempt he receives off the station's Bajorans and even the station itself is torture for him to live on (human norms are too bright and cold for Cardassian physiology).
Source: Stepford Snarker
Cite this Source
Lonely and Desolate. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/desolate/lonely
Desolate & Lonely. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/desolate/lonely>.
Lonely or Desolate. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/desolate/lonely.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "desolate" and "lonely" have occurred on timeline