devastating
adjective
dev·as·tat·ing
ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ 
1
: causing great damage or harm
a devastating flood/earthquake
a devastating injury
A devastating coastal tsunami could also result from a severe displacement of the San Andreas Fault.—
Gary Sandquist
Gary Sandquist2
: causing extreme emotional pain
a devastating loss
Even the most banal domestic melodramas, readers come to understand, are experienced as devastating tragedies by children living them for the first time.—Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly3
: extremely effective or powerful
a devastating satire
He had a devastating wit and an utter contempt for shoddy work in physics.—Jeremy Bernstein
Jeremy Bernstein
devastatingly
adverb
Some people recover readily from the infection, but in others it becomes disseminated, spreading rapidly and devastatingly from lungs to bones, skin and nervous system
—Lawrence Galton
Lawrence Galton
Postcards from the Edge is a devastatingly savvy, bitingly funny, yet sad movie based on Carrie Fisher's autobiographical novel about Hollywood.
—Jeffrey Lyons
Jeffrey Lyons
… is portrayed as a devastatingly effective power broker in the Senate.
—Alan Brinkley
Alan Brinkley
Examples of devastating in a Sentence
a devastating blow to our morale
Recent Examples on the Web
Murray suffered what is perhaps the most devastating injury for an athlete to sustain in a game against the Boston Celtics.
—Bobby Krivitsky, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
In Martin’s case, there was less of a payoff for retaining him through the Heat’s first-round loss to Boston in 2024, which followed Jimmy Butler’s devastating knee injury in the play-in game against Philadelphia.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2025
Resources for fighting fires, or minimizing the risk of potential devastating fires, are focused on areas where people and forests have the most overlap.
—Andrew Montequin, jsonline.com, 19 Aug. 2025
This type of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere and the fact that this happened at one of our shows was devastating to learn about.
—Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastating
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Bobby Krivitsky, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2025
In Martin’s case, there was less of a payoff for retaining him through the Heat’s first-round loss to Boston in 2024, which followed Jimmy Butler’s devastating knee injury in the play-in game against Philadelphia.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 19 Aug. 2025
Resources for fighting fires, or minimizing the risk of potential devastating fires, are focused on areas where people and forests have the most overlap.
—Andrew Montequin, jsonline.com, 19 Aug. 2025
This type of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere and the fact that this happened at one of our shows was devastating to learn about.
—Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastating
Cite this Entry
“Devastating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devastating. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
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