desert

1 of 4

noun (1)

des·​ert ˈde-zərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: arid land with usually sparse vegetation
especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually
2
: an area of water apparently devoid of life
3
: a desolate or forbidding area
lost in a desert of doubt
4
archaic : a wild uninhabited and uncultivated tract
desertic adjective
desertlike adjective

desert

2 of 4

adjective

des·​ert ˈde-zərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: desolate and sparsely occupied or unoccupied
a desert island
2
: of or relating to a desert (see desert entry 1)
3
archaic : forsaken

desert

3 of 4

verb

de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
deserted; deserting; deserts

transitive verb

1
: to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return
desert a town
2
a
: to leave in the lurch
desert a friend in trouble
b
: to abandon (military service) without leave

intransitive verb

: to quit one's post, allegiance, or service without leave or justification
especially : to abandon military duty without leave and without intent to return

desert

4 of 4

noun (2)

de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: deserved reward or punishment
usually used in plural
got their just deserts
2
: the quality or fact of meriting reward or punishment
3

Did you know?

Where does the phrase just deserts come from?

Why do we say that someone has gotten their just deserts? Does this turn of phrase have anything to do with dessert (“a sweet food eaten at the end of a meal”) or desert (“a dry land with few plants and little rainfall”)? In fact, the phrase employs neither of these words. Instead, it uses a completely unrelated word that happens to be pronounced like the word for sweets and spelled like the one for a dry place: desert, meaning “reward or punishment deserved or earned by one’s qualities or acts.” This little-used noun is, as you might have guessed, related to the English verb deserve. It has nothing to do with arid, dry land, or with cookies and ice cream.

Choose the Right Synonym for desert

abandon, desert, forsake mean to leave without intending to return.

abandon suggests that the thing or person left may be helpless without protection.

abandoned children

desert implies that the object left may be weakened but not destroyed by one's absence.

a deserted town

forsake suggests an action more likely to bring impoverishment or bereavement to that which is forsaken than its exposure to physical dangers.

a forsaken lover

Examples of desert in a Sentence

Noun (1) Satellite images taken this year and 20 years ago show that the desert is in retreat thanks to a resurgence of trees. Andy Coghlan, New Scientist, 14-20 Oct. 2006
The coastal plain is a desert in terms of precipitation—less than six inches fall annually—but what falls as snow stays to be later distributed by the wind. John Hildebrand, Harper's, November 2003
The house finch, a songbird native to the Western desert, has proved to be highly adaptable, having rapidly colonized the Eastern states after its release on Long Island in the early 1940's. Jane E. Brody, New York Times, 1 Jan. 2002
Adjective While my very American mother swabbed the dishes, Dad lingered at the dinner table, recreating in visceral detail the taste of mint in a Bedouin teacup under a desert sky, or the golden plumage of his father's saluki dogs, or the filigreed robes of the young king at the camel races. Diana Abu-Jaber, Vogue, May 2007
… the place in the Texas Panhandle where Highway 66 rolled down off the land of farms and ranches into the beginnings of the desert grassland and red-rock country that dominated New Mexico. Susan Croce Kelly, Route 66, 1988
Verb Boulet saw his longtime partner desert him in the midst of the storm, then had his wife and daughter skip town in its aftermath. Mike Flaherty, TV Guide, 10-16 Sept. 2007
Left alone for a moment, he feels mournful, bereft—and then panicky, when he thinks he has been deserted again. Richard Corliss, Time, 7 Mar. 2005
But now the building seemed deserted at two in the afternoon, and I soon learned that the paper, incredibly, was forced to advertise for applicants to the staff. Arthur Miller, Timebends, 1987
The inhabitants had deserted the town. She had been married for just over a year when her husband deserted her. He was deserted by his friends and family.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The state made the decision based on the hotter temperatures and desert climate in Arizona, CBS affiliate KOLD reported. Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 9 Mar. 2024 And how is it related to a shiny virtual reality helmet that seems to play only one very confusing game set in a desert realm with three suns? Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2024 Spain’s cultural and historical heritage and its diverse natural landscapes, from Moorish castles and royal palaces to snowy peaks, vast deserts and rugged coastlines, have made the country a prime location for international films and series. Ed Meza, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024 While Camp Verde is only be about 10 degrees cooler than Phoenix during the summer months, the park is blessed with something desert dwellers crave: shade and water. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 7 Mar. 2024 But Chinese companies are reducing costs further by installing solar farms in the deserts of western China, where public land is essentially free. Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024 There is more than plenty of sunshine in these regions to spare, with legislators citing Arizona’s desert climate and Hawaii’s proximity to the equator as reasons to remain on standard time. Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2024 New versions of al-Qaeda or the Islamic State would bloom in the desert. Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2024 Ticket sales at the box office this weekend will be flowing as freely as spice on the desert planet of Arrakis. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 Feb. 2024
Adjective
The ban covers the non-desert regions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties and most of Orange County and prohibits outdoor and residential burning of wood and manufactured logs. Christian Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 27 Nov. 2021 The temporary ban applies to areas within the South Coast Air Basin, which includes Orange County and non-desert portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to a news release from the agency. Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2022 In northern Colombia, in a semi-desert region that juts into the Caribbean Sea, its dusty roads traveled by the Wayúu people with their blankets and colorful backpacks, is Cerrejón — one of the largest open-pit coal mines in the world. Pablo Correa, Discover Magazine, 8 Dec. 2022 Nor do the sunbaked, semi-desert grasslands of Prescott National Forest south of Camp Verde look like the kind of place the wispy, water-loving trees would thrive. Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 15 Sep. 2022 Construction of the mega-project is expected to start in earnest in the Karoo, a semi-desert natural region of the country, in 2022. Conrad Onyango, Quartz, 1 Feb. 2022 In non-desert environments, human waste can decompose when buried in soil rich in organic material, according to Kimberly Finch, BLM Utah communications director. The Salt Lake Tribune, 21 Sep. 2021 Along those skinny stretches of green, the ancient groups built villages, irrigated fields and planted corn, chili peppers and other crops, likely borrowed from non-desert farming villages to the north and east. Bridget Alex, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Aug. 2021 Much of eastern Washington has an arid, semi-desert environment that specializes in warm-climate wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Megan McCluskey, Time, 1 July 2021
Verb
Yet many, including former President Trump, claim Biden is deserting Israel. Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 6 Mar. 2024 Mat Honan: Stewart is the child of someone who deserted from the army during the Vietnam War. Lauren Goode, WIRED, 8 Feb. 2024 Once the economic heart of Avdiivka, which had a prewar population of 32,000, the plant is now smashed and deserted. Serhii Korolchuk, Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2023 Both the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of the crossing were deserted on Thursday, with trucks loaded with supplies waiting at the nearby Egyptian town of Al-Arish. WSJ, 20 Oct. 2023 The winding residential streets south of the Encino Reservoir, covered with tree branches and muck, were mostly deserted Monday. Angie Orellana Hernandez, Los Angeles Times, 6 Feb. 2024 The original proposal on the board’s agenda focused on new child care providers — specifically on helping providers in areas identified as child care deserts with their start-up costs. City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Jan. 2024 And again in 2020, when the double haters deserted Trump for Biden. Doyle McManus, The Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2024 Foreign diplomats and humanitarian workers have deserted the country, and economic sanctions imposed by a bloc of West African nations have helped send food prices soaring and kept even humanitarian aid blocked at the border. Eric Schmitt Carmen Abd Ali, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'desert.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, "barren expanse of land (either wooded or arid), wasteland," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēserta "unfrequented places, wilderness," noun derivative from neuter plural (feminine singular in Late Latin) of dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited" — more at desert entry 2

Adjective

Middle English desert, deserte "barren, uninhabited, deserted, forsaken," borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin dēsertus "empty of people, uninhabited," from past participle of dēserere "to part company with, abandon, leave uninhabited" — more at desert entry 3

Verb

borrowed from French déserter, going back to Old French, "to devastate, make uninhabited, abandon, leave," borrowed from Late Latin dēsertāre "to leave, abandon," frequentative of Latin dēserere "to part company with, abandon, leave uninhabited, leave in the lurch," from dē- de- + serere "to link together, join in a series" — more at series

Note: Note that Dictionnaire du Moyen Français divides deserter into two lemmas, assigning the senses "devastate, make uninhabited" to a derivative of desert "barren, uninhabited" (see desert entry 2) and the senses "abandon, leave" to a loan from Late Latin dēsertāre.

Noun (2)

Middle English desert, dissert "fact of deserving reward or punishment, worthiness, merit," borrowed from Anglo-French desert, deserte, desserte "merit, reward, fact of deserving reward or punishment, wrongful conduct, reason, cause" (also continental Old & Middle French), derivative of deservir "to deserve, merit, earn, be entitled to" — more at deserve

Note: The derivation of Old French desert from deservir has been variously explained. Trésor de la Langue Française describes desserte as formed from the present tense base (i.e., the base lacking -v-) of desservir ("Déverbal, formé sur le radical du présent de l'indicative de desservir"). P. Ruelle points in a different direction, judging both the Old French noun deserte and the adjective desert as a variant of the past participle deservi, descending from *desérvitum, a presumed by-form of classical dēservītum (see his "Notes sur le lexique des Isopets," Romania, vol. 101, no. 401 [1980], pp. 77-78).

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1603, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (2)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of desert was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near desert

Cite this Entry

“Desert.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desert. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

desert

1 of 4 noun
des·​ert ˈdez-ərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
: dry land with few plants and little rainfall
desertlike adjective

desert

2 of 4 adjective
des·​ert ˈdez-ərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
: of, relating to, or resembling a desert
especially : being barren and without life
a desert island

desert

3 of 4 noun
de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: worthiness of reward or punishment
rewarded according to their deserts
2
: a deserved reward or punishment
got your just deserts

desert

4 of 4 verb
de·​sert di-ˈzərt How to pronounce desert (audio)
1
: to withdraw from : leave
desert a town
2
: to leave someone or something one should stay with
deserted a friend in trouble
3
: to fail one in time of need
my courage deserted me
4
: to quit one's post without permission especially with the intention of remaining away permanently
deserter noun
desertion
di-ˈzər-shən
noun
Etymology

Noun

Middle English desert "barren land," from early French desert (same meaning), derived from Latin deserere "to desert, abandon," from de- "from, away" and serere "to join together"

Noun

Middle English deserte "quality of being worthy of a reward or punishment," from early French desert (same meaning), from deservir "to deserve," from Latin deservire "to devote oneself to"

Verb

from French déserter "to desert, abandon," from Latin desertare (same meaning), derived from earlier deserere "to desert, abandon" — related to desert entry 1

More from Merriam-Webster on desert

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!