1. causing a feeling of complete emptiness, loneliness, or devastation

Examples

• The desolating news of her father’s death left her unable to speak.
• He felt a desolating loneliness after moving to the new city.
• The desolating effects of the hurricane were visible for miles.
• She experienced a desolating sense of failure after losing the championship.
• The desolating silence in the empty house was unbearable.
• His desolating criticism crushed her confidence completely.