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frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

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obliterate, annihilate, raze, gut: Invaders desolated the<br />

countryside. 6 dismay, dishearten, depress, daunt, dispirit,<br />

sadden, deject, dispirit, discourage: He was either buoyed up<br />

by renewed hope or desolated by despair.<br />

desolation<br />

n. 1 destruction, ruin, devastation, waste, spoliation,<br />

despoliation, sack, depredation, extirpation, obliteration,<br />

ravagement, barrenness, havoc, chaos: We had to shape a new<br />

life from the desolation left by the war. 2 grief, sorrow,<br />

dreariness, despair, gloom, distress, melancholy, sadness,<br />

misery, woe, anguish, wretchedness, dolour, dolefulness,<br />

unhappiness: She felt the desolation of loneliness after her<br />

husband's death.<br />

despair n. 1 hopelessness, desperation, discouragement, disheartenment,<br />

despondency, dejection, depression, gloom, gloominess, misery,<br />

melancholy, wretchedness, distress, miserableness, anguish;<br />

resignation: The despair of the prisoners was evident in their<br />

ravaged faces.<br />

--v. 2 give up or lose hope; surrender, quit: We despaired of<br />

ever seeing our children again.<br />

desperate adj. 1 reckless, foolhardy, rash, impetuous, frantic, frenzied,<br />

panic-stricken: Desperate measures are required in such a<br />

desperate situation. 2 careless, hasty, devil-may-care, wild,<br />

mad, frenetic, furious: They made a last desperate attack on<br />

the fort. 3 anxious (for), craving, hungry (for), thirsty<br />

(for), needful (of), desirous (of), covetous (of), eager (for),<br />

longing or yearning (for), wishing (for), hoping (for), aching<br />

(for), pining (for): She is desperate for attention. 4 urgent,<br />

pressing, compelling, serious, grave, acute, critical, crucial,<br />

great: There is a desperate need for medicines at the disaster<br />

site. 5 precarious, perilous, life-threatening, hazardous,<br />

dangerous, tenuous, hopeless, beyond hope or help: Avalanches<br />

are making the climbers' situation even more desperate. 6 at<br />

one's wits' end, forlorn, despairing, despondent, wretched, at<br />

the end of one's tether, frantic: With no one to turn to for<br />

help, he was truly desperate.<br />

desperation<br />

n. 1 recklessness, impetuosity, rashness, foolhardiness,

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