desert

Pluraldeserts

Formsdeserts, deserting, deserted

1. 1
   hot dry landnouncountable or uncountable

   A large, very dry area of land with little rain and few plants, often sandy or rocky and sometimes cold.

   The caravan crossed the desert before the worst of the summer heat arrived.

   Few plants survive in the desert, where rain falls only a handful of times each year.

   UsageDo not confuse desert (DEZ-ert), the dry land, with dessert (di-ZURT), the sweet course spelled with double s.

   Note

   Most speakers picture this meaning today: sand, rock, heat and thirst. It narrows an older meaning, any wild and empty wilderness, without replacing it, so a desert in older writing need not be hot at all. Travelers' prose fixes the modern image, as in Julius Griffiths's "scorching regions of an Arabian desert" (1805) and the burning simoom of James Yoxall's The Lonely Pyramid (1891). Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Desert formerly had a broader meaning of uninhabited wilderness, without necessarily implying heat or aridity. en.wikipedia.org
   • Julius Griffiths used the quoted phrase in 1805. en.wiktionary.org
   • James Yoxall's The Lonely Pyramid describes a burning simoom. en.wiktionary.org
   • It was already published by 21 November 1891, when The Spectator reviewed it; 1892 is therefore too late. archive.spectator.co.uk
2. 2
   uninhabitedadjective

   Of a place, abandoned, uninhabited, or left empty of people.

   The shipwrecked crew washed up on a desert island far from any trade route.

   He joked that he would take only a radio and a good book to a desert island.

   UsageMostly in desert island; for other empty places use deserted: a deserted street.

   Similarabandoned, deserted, uninhabited, vacant, unoccupied

   Oppositeinhabited

   Note

   An adjective that still means what the Latin participle meant: abandoned. The King James Bible of 1611 sends the disciples "into a desert place" to rest, and that place is lonely rather than sandy. Dryden spells the word desart. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • The Latin participle underlying desert meant abandoned. en.wiktionary.org
   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
   • In Mark 6:31, Jesus invites the disciples into a desert place to rest. en.wikisource.org
   • The biblical place is secluded rather than a sandy desert. en.wikisource.org
   • Dryden used the spelling desart. en.wikisource.org
3. 3
   Saydi-ZURTUS/dɪˈzɝt/UK/dɪˈzɜːt/

   abandonverbtransitive

   To abandon someone or something that depends on your presence, especially in breach of a promise or obligation.

   Investors began to desert the company as its losses mounted.

   He deserted his family, leaving them without any means of support.

   Similarabandon, leave, forsake, strand

   Note

   To desert someone is to fail a claim they had on you, which is why it suits a stranded passenger or a family left without support.

4. 4
   Saydi-ZURTUS/dɪˈzɝt/UK/dɪˈzɜːt/

   leave the armyverbintransitive

   To abandon one's post or duties, particularly by leaving an army or navy unit without authorization.

   Several recruits chose to desert rather than face another winter at the front.

   The sailor who deserted in a foreign port faced arrest on his return.

   UsageMost often with no object, soldiers deserted; with one, it names the post or unit: desert your post.

   Similarabscond, flee, defect

   Note

   The obligation is to a post or a unit, and leaving it is an offense, so the word often appears alongside punishment. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Military desertion is an offense subject to punishment. govinfo.gov
5. 5
   place lackingnounfigurativelycountable or uncountable

   Any barren place or situation; a metaphorical wasteland lacking something one wants or needs.

   Daytime television can be an intellectual desert for curious viewers.

   For teenagers, the town was a cultural desert, with no cinema, no music venue, and nowhere to meet after dark.

   UsageOften used with a word naming what is lacking: a cultural desert, a food desert.

   Similarwasteland, void, vacuum, wilderness

   Oppositeoasis

   Note

   In William Howitt's Land, Labour and Gold (1855), a man calls gold-rush Victoria an intellectual desert, and the pattern remains productive in writing about railways and creative industries. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • William Howitt wrote Land, Labour and Gold, first published in 1855. archive.org
   • Howitt reports a man describing the country as an intellectual desert. en.wiktionary.org
   • The metaphor occurs in writing about railways. en.wiktionary.org
   • The metaphor occurs in writing about creative industries. iwa.wales

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