desert2 /ˈdɛzət /
▸ noun a waterless, desolate area of land with little or no vegetation, typically one covered with sand:
the desert of the Sinai peninsula is a harsh place.
[mass noun] drought and deforestation are turning fragile grasslands into desert.
▪ a situation or place considered dull and uninteresting:
a cultural desert.
▸ adjective [attrib.] like a desert:
overgrazing has created desert conditions.
▪ uninhabited and desolate:
desert wastes.
– ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from late Latin desertum ‘something left waste’, neuter past participle of deserere ‘leave, forsake’.