French word

désertique

Pronunciation

IPA/dezɛʁtik/

Meaning

  • adjectivedesert-like

Example

Cette région est désertique.

This region is desert-like.

Illustration for désertique (desert-like)

More examples

Le centre-ville est désertique le dimanche matin.

Downtown is deserted on Sunday morning.

Core concept

A parched, nearly empty landscape with little human presence.

Common phrases

  • rue désertique

    deserted street

  • centre-ville désertique

    deserted downtown

Similar words

aride: Very dry because it receives little rain and has almost no water.
désert: Nearly empty of people and activity.
isolé: Far from surrounding places and existing on its own.
dépeuplé: Containing very few residents and being almost unpopulated.

Definition in French

Décrit un espace rappelant un désert par son aridité et le manque d'activité humaine.

Word origin

Désertique is formed from French désert with the suffix -ique; désert ultimately comes from Latin desertum, an abandoned place, from deserere, to abandon.

Usage tips

  • Désertique has the same spoken form in masculine and feminine, while plural forms add written -s: un lieu désertique, des zones désertiques.

Other meanings

  • desertadjective
  • desolateadjective

Opposites

  • fréquentébusyadjective
  • vivantlivelyadjective

Related words

  • désertdesertnoun
  • désertédesertedadjective

Word lists with this word