desolation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act or an instance of desolating.
• noun The state of being desolate.
• noun Devastation; ruin.
• noun The state of being abandoned or forsaken; loneliness.
• noun Wretchedness; misery.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of desolating; destruction or expulsion of inhabitants; devastation; a laying waste.
• noun A desolate place; a waste, devastated, or lifeless place or region.
• noun A desolate or desolated condition or state; destruction; ruin.
• noun Personal affliction; the state of being desolate or forsaken; sadness.
• noun Synonyms Ravage.
• noun 3 and Misery, wretchedness, gloom.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
• noun The state of being desolated or laid waste; ruin; solitariness; destitution; gloominess.
• noun A place or country wasted and forsaken.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act of desolating or laying waste; destruction of inhabitants; depopulation.
• noun The state of being desolated or laid waste; ruin; solitariness; destitution; gloominess.
• noun A place or country wasted and forsaken.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun sadness resulting from being forsaken or abandoned
• noun an event that results in total destruction
• noun a bleak and desolate atmosphere
• noun the state of being decayed or destroyed