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Desolate vs Dry - What's the difference?

desolate | dry | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between desolate and dry

is that desolate is deserted and devoid of inhabitants while dry is free from liquid or moisture.

As verbs the difference between desolate and dry

is that desolate is to deprive of inhabitants while dry is to lose moisture.

As an acronym DRY is

acronym of w:Don't repeat yourself|don't repeat yourself|lang=en It is a software development principle aimed at reducing repetition.

desolate

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Deserted and devoid of inhabitants.
    • a desolate''' isle; a '''desolate''' wilderness; a '''desolate house
  • * Bible, Jer. ix. 11
    • I will make Jerusalem a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah desolate , without an inhabitant.
  • * Tennyson
    • And the silvery marish flowers that throng / The desolate creeks and pools among.
  • Barren and lifeless.
  • Made unfit for habitation or use; laid waste; neglected; destroyed.
    • desolate altars
  • Dismal or dreary.
  • Sad, forlorn and hopeless.
    • He was left desolate by the early death of his wife.
  • * Keble
    • voice of the poor and desolate

    Verb

    (desolat)
  • To deprive of inhabitants.
  • To devastate or lay waste somewhere.
  • To abandon or forsake something.
  • To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.

    • Related terms

    * desolation

    External links

    * * * ----

    dry

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) drye, drie, dri, drige, dryge, . See also (l), (l), (l).

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Free from liquid or moisture.
  • * Addison
    • The weather, we agreed, was too dry for the season.
  • * Prescott
    • Not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly.
  • (chemistry) Free of water in any state; anhydrous.
  • Thirsty; needing drink.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • Give the dry fool drink.
  • (of an alcoholic beverage) Lacking sugar or low in sugar; not sweet.
  • Maintaining temperance; void or abstinent from alcoholic beverages.
  • (of a person or joke) Subtly humorous, yet without mirth.
  • * (Washington Irving)
    • He was rather a dry , shrewd kind of body.
  • (of a scientist or his laboratory) Not working with chemical or biological matter, but, rather, doing computations.
  • (masonry) Built without mortar; dry-stone.
  • *
  • (of animals) Not giving milk.
  • Lacking interest or amusement; barren; unembellished.
  • * (Alexander Pope)
    • These epistles will become less dry , more susceptible of ornament.
  • (fine arts) Exhibiting a sharp, frigid preciseness of execution, or lacking delicate contours and soft transitions of colour.
    • Synonyms
    * (free from liquid or moisture) arid, parched
    Antonyms
    * (free from liquid or moisture) wet * (abstinent from alcohol) wet * wet
    Derived terms
    * bone dry * dry as a bone * dry as a dead dingo’s donger * dry cough * dry hole * dry ice * drily * dry run * dryly * dryness * dry spell * drywall * dry weight * like watching paint dry

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Verb

  • To lose moisture.
    • The clothes dried on the line.
  • To remove moisture from.
    • Devin dried her eyes with a handkerchief.
  • (ambitransitive, figurative) To cease or cause to cease.
    • Their sources of income dried up.
    The stream of chatter dried up.
    Derived terms
    * drier * dryer * dry out * dry up * nondrying
    See also
    * desiccant * desiccate * desiccation