desolate vs sad

desolate

adj
  • Sad, forlorn and hopeless. 

  • Made unfit for habitation or use because of neglect, destruction etc. 

  • Barren and lifeless. 

  • Dismal or dreary. 

  • Deserted and devoid of inhabitants. 

verb
  • To devastate or lay waste somewhere. 

  • To abandon or forsake something. 

  • To deprive of inhabitants. 

  • To make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless. 

sad

adj
  • Causing sorrow; lamentable. 

  • Soggy (to refer to pastries). 

  • Of colours: dark, deep; later, sombre, dull. 

  • Appearing sorrowful. 

  • Feeling sorrow; sorrowful, mournful. 

  • Poor in quality, bad; shameful, deplorable; later, regrettable, poor. 

  • Unfashionable; socially inadequate or undesirable. 

How often have the words desolate and sad occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )