devastate

devastate

verb

Definition of DEVASTATE

1

to bring destruction to (something) through violent action <the city was devastated, first by the earthquake and then by fires>

Synonyms destroy, devastate, ruin, scourge

Related Words despoil, foray, harry, loot, maraud, pillage, plunder, sack, strip; annihilate, desolate, eradicate, expunge, extinguish, extirpate, nuke, obliterate, rub out, shatter, smash, total, vaporize, waste, wipe out, wrack, wreck; decimate, mow; demolish, raze; crush, overpower, overrun, overthrow, overwhelm

Near Antonyms recondition, recover, redeem, rehabilitate, restore; fix, mend, patch, repair, revamp

2

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of <the explosion devastated an entire city block>

Synonyms annihilate, cream, decimate, demolish, desolate, devastate, do in, extinguish, nuke, pull down, pulverize, raze, rub out, ruin, shatter, smash, tear down, total, vaporize, waste, wrack, wreck

Related Words beat, best, clobber, conquer, crush, defeat, drub, lick, master, overbear, overcome, overmatch, prevail (over), rout, scotch, skunk, subdue, surmount, thrash, trim, triumph (over), trounce, wallop, whip, win (against); blast, blow up, break, cripple, damage, deface, deteriorate, disfigure, disintegrate, dissolve, dynamite, harm, impair, injure, mangle, mar, mutilate, spoil, vitiate; erode, scour, sweep (away), wash out, wear (away); dilapidate, disassemble, dismantle, gut, take down, unbuild, undo, unmake; blot out, efface, eradicate, expunge, exterminate, extirpate, liquidate, obliterate, remove, root (out), snuff (out), stamp (out), wipe out; despoil, havoc, loot, pillage, plunder, ravage, sack, trample, trash, vandalize; assassinate, butcher, cut down, dispatch, execute, fell, kill, kill off, massacre, mow (down), murder, slaughter, slay, take out, zap

Near Antonyms doctor, fix, mend, patch, recondition, repair, revamp; create, invent; assemble, fabricate, fashion, forge, form, frame, make, manufacture, mold, produce, shape; bring about, constitute, establish, father, found, institute, organize; conserve, preserve, protect, save; rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, renovate, restore

Antonyms build, construct, erect, put up, raise, rear, set up

3

to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress <we were devastated by the awful news of his death>

Synonyms crush, devastate, floor, grind (down), oppress, overcome, overmaster, overpower, prostrate, snow under, swamp, whelm

Related Words deluge, drown, sink; confute, defeat, refute; break, demoralize, distress, disturb, rock, shatter, stagger, throw, unman, unnerve, upset