Desolate
Desolate adjective - Left unoccupied or unused.
Usage example: a desolate mining town that had its brief heyday more than a century ago
Waste is a synonym for desolate in activity topic. In some cases you can use "Waste" instead the word "Desolate" as a verb or an adjective or a noun, when it comes to topics like help, ravage, desert, unused. popular alternative
Waste
Waste adjective - Producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation.
Usage example: waste acreage that was not fit for anything
Desolate is a synonym for waste in characteristic topic. You can use "Desolate" instead the word "Waste" as a verb or an adjective, if it concerns topics such as help, ruin, despoil, deserted. popular alternative
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
- Instead of the Mojave Wasteland, however, the mod introduces players to the titular Frontier, a cold, desolate waste surrounding what was once Portland, Oregon.
Source: Video Game / The Frontier -
The two steal away into the desolate wilderness known as the Waste.
Source: Literature / The Claidi Journals -
In an episode of the Dilbert cartoon, two teams within Dilbert's company (his team and that of the one-off villain Lena) are pitted against each other to finish a task, with the team that fails being reassigned to Albany, New York (cue an image of a desolate, snowy waste).
Source: Reassigned to Antarctica
Cite this Source
Waste and Desolate. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/desolate/waste
Desolate & Waste. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/desolate/waste>.
Waste or Desolate. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/desolate/waste.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "desolate" and "waste" have occurred on timeline