desolateness

noun

Definition of desolatenessnext
1
as in melancholy

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2
as in bleakness

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolateness
  1. melancholy
  2. bleakness
  3. dreariness
  4. barrenness
  5. dejection
  6. nothingness
  7. oppression
  8. despair
Noun
  • The question for me is whether or not Lloyd will also manage to capture the melancholy of a deceptively serious play, notwithstanding its reputation.
    — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
  • On the one hand, there’s a fascination with collective joy and the forms of vernacular invention that aspire to it; on the other, there’s an underlying melancholy that points to the inevitability of isolation, an epistemology of loneliness.
    — Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of melancholy
Noun
  • The bleakness of those far northern isles, the punishing, incessant wind, the wild beauty of the land and rugged coastline are unforgettably conjured alongside her inner struggle to stay sober.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The choice yields a brighter, richer, more varied and nuanced story in which coming-of-age tropes mingle with Gileadean bleakness to reveal new facets of a state premised on male supremacy.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026
Definition of bleakness
Noun
  • Jonestown afflicted Naipaul’s vision, his way of deciphering not just political manias but the dreariness of urban life, the perpetual doom of the nuclear-arms race.
    — Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 14 July 2026
  • Days shorten, shadows lengthen, and the cold and dreariness of winter return.
    — Thomas A. DuBois, The Conversation, 17 June 2026
Definition of dreariness
Noun
  • But many assumptions that Stratos’ investors or Utah politicians might have had about Box Elder County – about either the acquiescence of its people or the barrenness of its landscape – have been proved wrong over the past few months.
    — Melanie Stetson Freeman, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Shunammite, once so determined to get her period, is staring down the possibility of barrenness and, in Gilead, that means spinsterhood.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 27 May 2026
Definition of barrenness
Noun
  • In the space of a few paragraphs, Ned will abandon and recover his child, bungle an extramarital affair, win and lose, experience ecstasy and dejection.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Miller’s hands dropped quickly to his side in frustrated dejection.
    — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of dejection
Noun
  • The stone never does talk to Larry, and Dillard ends that story by succumbing to her faith in the nothingness.
    — Isabel Fattal, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026
  • For some of us, this is a very counterintuitive notion, as the notion of things existing within and moving through some form of empty nothingness just doesn’t make any sense.
    — Big Think, Big Think, 7 May 2026
Definition of nothingness
Noun
  • Kosovo has criticized the verdicts as unjust, maintaining that the KLA, which Thaci had led before entering politics, fought against Serbian oppression.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
  • And for those elections to truly be free, ALL candidates must have the freedom to run and campaign without oppression, intimidation or persecution — starting with María Corina Machado.
    — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of oppression
Noun
  • The tone creeps into despair as the scales fall from Sutskever’s eyes.
    — E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026
  • The cumulative effect of the bowl’s ambient violence (robbery, assault, and overdose abound) amounts to an open-air despair not unlike Fox News-style depictions of California as a wholesale war zone.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of despair
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Desolateness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolateness. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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