我在英文书上看到这样一个句子“Southern parts could be desertlike",请问“desertlike"在这里是什么意思？ thank you

这是我查的结果（英文原版摘录）：
Desert, waste, wilderness refer to areas that are largely uninhabited. Desert emphasizes lack of water; it refers to a dry, barren, treeless region, usually sandy: an oasis in a desert. Waste emphasizes lack of inhabitants and of cultivation; it is used of wild, barren land: a desolate waste. Wilderness emphasizes the difficulty of finding one's way, whether because of barrenness or of dense vegetation: a trackless wilderness.
网址是http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/desertlike
意思是荒芜的没有居住的，是形容词。