Synonyms for desert
ˈdɛz ərtdesert

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.8 / 6 votes

1. desert

   Abandon is a word of wide signification, applying to persons or things of any kind; abdicate and resign apply to office, authority, or power; cede to territorial possessions; surrender especially to military force, and more generally to any demand, claim, passion, etc. Quit carries an idea of suddenness or abruptness not necessarily implied in abandon, and may not have the same suggestion of finality. The king abdicates his throne, cedes his territory, deserts his followers, renounces his religion, relinquishes his titles, abandons his designs. A cowardly officer deserts his ship; the helpless passengers abandon it. We quit business, give up property, resign office, abandon a habit or a trust. Relinquish commonly implies reluctance; the fainting hand relinquishes its grasp; the creditor relinquishes his claim. Abandon implies previous association with responsibility for or control of; forsake implies previous association with inclination or attachment, real or assumed; a man may abandon or forsake house or friends; he abandons an enterprise; forsakes God. Abandon is applied to both good and evil action; a thief abandons his designs, a man his principles. Forsake, like abandon, may be used either in the favorable or unfavorable sense; desert is always unfavorable, involving a breach of duty, except when used of mere localities; as, "the Deserted Village." While a monarch abdicates, a president or other elected or appointed officer resigns. It was held that James II. abdicated his throne by deserting it.

   Synonyms:
   abandon, abdicate, abjure, cast off, cease, cede, depart from, discontinue, forego, forsake, forswear, give up, leave, quit, recant, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, resign, retire from, retract, surrender, vacate, withdraw from

   Antonyms:
   adopt, advocate, assert, cherish, claim, court, defend, favor, haunt, hold, keep, maintain, occupy, prosecute, protect, pursue, retain, seek, support, undertake, uphold, vindicate

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. desertnoun

   Synonyms:
   wild, waste, wilderness, solitude, void

   Antonyms:
   inclosure, field, pasture, garden, oasis

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.0 / 6 votes

1. desertverb

   arid land with little or no vegetation

2. abandon, forsake, desolate, desertverb

   leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

   "The mother deserted her children"

   Synonyms:
   waste, devastate, give up, lay waste to, abandon, vacate, scourge, empty, depopulate, defect, forsake, ravage, desolate

3. defect, desertverb

   desert (a cause, a country or an army), often in order to join the opposing cause, country, or army

   "If soldiers deserted Hitler's army, they were shot"

   Synonyms:
   forsake, desolate, defect, abandon

4. desertverb

   leave behind

   "the students deserted the campus after the end of exam period"

   Synonyms:
   defect, forsake, desolate, abandon

Matched Categories

1. • Flee
   • Leave

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. desertadjective

   Synonyms:
   uninhabited, desolate, forsaken, wild, waste, barren, untilled

2. desertnoun

   Synonyms:
   wilderness, waste, solitude, deserted region

3. desertverb

   Synonyms:
   forsake, leave, quit, abandon, renounce, leave in the lurch, turn one's back upon

4. desertnoun

   Synonyms:
   deserving, due, merit or demerit

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. desertadjective

   Synonyms:
   waste, unproductive, barren, desolate, infertile, inarable

   Antonyms:
   fertile, arable

2. desertnoun

   Synonyms:
   merit, meed, due

3. desertnoun

   Synonyms:
   wilderness, wild

   Associated words:
   oasis, mirage, caravan, caravansary, eremic

4. desertverb

   Synonyms:
   forsake, abandon, leave, run away from

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "desert":

   sahara, wasteland, wilderness, saharan, sahrawi, walkabout, dessert, deserts

Suggested Resources

1. Desert

   Desert vs. Dessert -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words Desert and Dessert.

How to pronounce desert?

How to say desert in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use desert in a sentence?

1. Carl Schurz:

   Ideals are like stars: you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the ocean desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your destiny.

2. Gabriel Zeifman:

   A photo from Gabriel Zeifman shows a new angle of the mysterious base in the Nevada desert known as Area 51. ( Gabriel Zeifman) The first time I saw it, I was kind of surprised because I was still probably 30, 40 miles out and just like wow, okay, well thats it..

3. Marie Sauter:

   There is no shade, there is no cover. You are out exposed to the sun, the wind the heat, the reflection of the sun off the white sand. It's a hash desert environment.

4. Sabri Dikman:

   The message is simple, don't do it. The desert is vast and it's treacherous, when you cross illegally you put your life in incredible peril. I'm telling you this not only as a Border Patrol agent, but as one who spent his entire 23-year career in Arizona. I speak from experience.

5. Julien Brachet:

   It’s a problem, because there may be as many people dying in the desert as there are in the Mediterranean, we can’t prove it, so we can’t say it, so nobody is going to intervene.