Verbs

(v)abandon, forsake, desolate, desertleave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch“The mother deserted her children”
(v)depopulate, desolatereduce in population“The epidemic depopulated the countryside”
(v)lay waste to, waste, devastate, desolate, ravage, scourgecause extensive destruction or ruin utterly“The enemy lay waste to the countryside after the invasion”

Adjectives

(s)bare, barren, bleak, desolate, starkproviding no shelter or sustenance“bare rocky hills”, “barren lands”, “the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes”, “the desolate surface of the moon”, “a stark landscape”
(s)desolatecrushed by grief“depressed and desolate of soul”, “a low desolate wail”