devastated

adjective

dev·​as·​tat·​ed ˈde-və-ˌstā-təd 

1

: brought to a state of ruin or destruction

Dr. Dawdy, a 38-year-old assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, is one of the more unusual relief workers among the thousands who have come to the devastated expanses of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

—John Schwartz

I present here a steady flow model for the blast dynamics and propose that through much of the devastated area the blast was a supersonic flow of a complex multiphase (solid, liquid, vapour) mixture.

—Susan Werner Kieffer

2

: emotionally shattered or distraught

Doug never called. He dumped me for the cheerleader, and I was, in the parlance of teen-age romance, absolutely devastated.

—Marialisa Calta

Mr. Jacoby was devastated; he felt he was a proven winner and should not be yanked for one bad half.

—Ira Berkow

Examples of devastated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The devastated family members of the victims watched Friday's sentencing via video from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. —Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 28 June 2025

Oblivion also happens to be the title of Kosinski’s second film, in which Cruise plays a sentry watching over a devastated Earth that has become inhospitable to all life. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 27 June 2025

Kenney-Silver delivers a touchingly nuanced performance as Anne, balanced on the fine line between sad as in devastated and sad as in pathetic. —Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 1 May 2025

The trade stunned the sport, perplexed rival executives and devastated Bostonians. —Andy McCullough, New York Times, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for devastated

• abdicated
• abrogated
• acclimated
• activated
• actuated
• adumbrated
• advocated
• aggravated
• aggregated
• agitated
• allocated
• alternated