Skip to main content
to desert

to desert

219 4.2
To leave people or a place when you are needed
  • verb
  • /dɪˈzɜrt/
translation icon : abandonar
  • When she needed support the most, he decided to desert her, leaving her to face the challenges alone.
  • desert their wives
  • father deserted
  • men desert

I cannot believe they deserted Afghanistan.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • As Mother said, "Never desert such a man, for he may be unhappy."

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Your son has deserted you.

  • Soldiers begin to desert in growing numbers.

  • Soldiers begin to desert in growing numbers.

  • I am sure you would desert me.

  • Oh, just go ahead, desert me.

  • Told the captain I'd desert to do it.

  • And by the way, if a better store comes along, then they will desert you in droves.

  • I deserted you this week.

  • But the unit falls apart in a mutiny, and he deserts and makes his way home to Louisiana.

Synonyms

to leave
vsto desert
1.0

To not take something or someone with you when you go

is used for acts that break duty, not accidental or forgetful departures
to abandon
vsto desert
773 3.1

Leave someone or something behind permanently and without care

is about leaving when expected to stay, not only permanent neglect
to forsake
vsto desert
38 6.9

To leave someone who needs your help

is used for leaving while expected to stay, not only the worst time
to desolate
vsto desert
8.2

Leave someone who needs you alone and helpless

is about leaving while expected to stay rather than about causing helplessness

Antonyms

1.0

To remain in one place and not leave

Compounds

19 3.6

An island in the sea where no one lives

A very dry area in southern California and nearby states with plants like Joshua trees and animals

A very large hot area of sand in northern Africa with wide sand dunes

4 4.4

A large dry area in northern China and southern Mongolia with few plants and strong winds

A US-led military attack in 1991 that quickly forced Iraq's army out of Kuwait

A large dry region in southwestern Arizona, southeastern California, and northwestern Mexico with many saguaro cacti

1 3.4

A low ankle boot made of leather or suede with a soft rubber sole

1 3.6

A plant that can live with very little water, for example a cactus

1 8.0

A small hopping animal that lives in deserts, often in North America and Mexico, and eats seeds

1 6.0

A large land turtle with a round shell that lives in burrows to escape desert heat

A large dry area in Egypt between the Nile and the Red Sea with few plants

A large desert in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States

1 7.7

A small plant with a thick swollen stem and bright pink or white flowers grown in warm places

A very dry desert in northern Chile with rich minerals and clear night skies

A large dry area in the southwest of Africa mainly in Botswana

1 4.9

A large desert in Namibia along the southwest coast by the Atlantic Ocean

1 5.8

A large dry area in southern Israel with mostly sand and rocks

1 6.1

A large dry area of sand in northwest India and southeast Pakistan with little plant life

1 3.8

A large desert in northeastern Egypt between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea

A desert in northwestern Nevada with a large flat dry lakebed and an annual arts festival

A dry area in southeast California with very hot weather and special desert plants and animals

A desert plant with deep pink, tube-shaped flowers that open in the evening

A nickname for the German general Erwin Rommel who led forces in North Africa during World War II

8.1

A low shrub that grows in salty, dry soil with blue-green prickly leaves often used for Christmas decoration

7.9

A small lizard with a long tail that lives in hot dry deserts and sits in the sun on rocks

A wild cat with long tufts of hair on its ears that lives in hot, dry deserts

A wild flower with bell-shaped orange, red or yellow blooms on short stems in dry places

8.4

A small tree that grows in dry places and has long narrow leaves and purple flowers

9.5

A spiny desert shrub that makes small pale flowers and black berries

A plant in dry western United States areas with straight stems and groups of bright red and orange flowers

desert pea
  • Australian
9.5

A low bushy plant from dry parts of Australia with bright red flowers and a black spot

9.5

A plant that lives for several years with thick yellow flower spikes and blue-green divided leaves

9.1

A lung and skin infection from a fungus in dry, dusty places

A small desert plant with sticky leaves and bright pink trumpet flowers

desert selaginella
  • Specialized
9.9

A low plant that forms green mats on sandy desert soil

Soil in very dry areas with little plant material

A slender hairy plant with golden-yellow flowers that grows in sandy deserts

A desert region in Egypt between the Nile and the Red Sea

A long arc of red sand dunes in southern Saudi Arabia

A very large dry area on the Arabian Peninsula with sand dunes and few plants

A dry, sandy part of the Sahara Desert in Libya, Egypt, and Sudan

A large desert in eastern Iran that has very hot weather and salt flats

A large dry area in southern California and western Arizona with hot weather and Joshua trees

A large dry area of sand and rocks in western Australia with very few people

A very dry area in southern Arizona with plants like cacti and wild animals

A very large dry area of sand that covers much of the Arabian Peninsula

A large dry area east of the Indus River in northwest India and southeast Pakistan

A large flat area of salt and dry land in north central Iran, also called Dasht-e Kavir

A large, very dry area in northwest Australia north of the Gibson Desert

A large dry area in south central Australia

A large dry area of sand in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea

A large salt desert in north central Iran with a dry climate and salt flats

An arid flat area of sand and rock in the northeast of Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea

A desert on a high plateau in northeastern Arizona with colorful layered rocks

A very large dry area in southern Argentina that is one of the world's biggest deserts

A very large dry area in southern Syria, western Iraq, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia

A large sandy desert in western China with very dry land and strong winds

A large desert in western China with very dry weather and moving sand dunes

Sturt's desert pea
  • Australian
9.9

A short Australian plant from dry inland areas with bright red flowers and black centres

A dry area in Turkmenistan south of the Aral Sea with large areas of sand and few plants

How Abandoning

to forsake
38 6.9
to abandon
773 3.1
to desert
219 4.2
to leave
1.0
to walk away
632 3.5

Surface Forms

desert infinitive
deserted past
deserted past participle
deserting present participle
deserts third person singular

Etymology

Desert (verb) comes from the same old idea of 'leaving' or 'abandoning', so to desert someone or a place is to leave them when they need you.