DESOLATION

n. 1 destruction, ruin, devastation, waste, spoliation, despoliation, sack, depredation, extirpation, obliteration, ravagement, barrenness, havoc, chaos We had to shape a new life from the desolation left by the war 2 grief, sorrow, dreariness, despair, gloom, distress, melancholy, sadness, misery, woe, anguish, wretchedness, dolour, dolefulness, unhappiness She felt the desolation of loneliness after her husband's death