Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 23, 2025 is: desolate • \DESS-uh-lut\  • adjective Desolate describes places that lack people, plants, animals, etc., that make people feel welcome in a place; desolate places are, in other words, deserted or barren. Desolate can also mean “joyless” or “gloomy.” // We drove for hours along a desolate stretch of road until finally a lone gas station appeared in the middle of nowhere. See the entry > Examples: “... the great novelists were my guide, and none more so than my grandfather. I learnt from him complexity of motivation, a willingness to take risks with storytelling, and the vital importance of landscape. Like Thomas Hardy, my grandfather was able to make his readers see what he wrote, whether it be the beauty of Rivendell or the desolate landscapes of Mordor.” — Simon Tolkien, LitHub.com, 29 May 2025 Did you know? The word desolate hasn’t strayed far from its Latin roo