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
But there is a sense that these great rivals are more evenly matched this time around, with Xabi Alonso’s arrival helping to tighten up a Madrid side who still look just as devastating up top.
—Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
At least 3 people have been killed in Haiti as Tropical Storm Melissa causes devastating flooding in the Caribbean and meteorologists warn the storm could become a serious category 4 hurricane.
—Josh Cradduck, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025
But Díaz has been excellent in his six years as a Met, and even after suffering a devastating leg injury before the first season on his huge contract extension (five years, $102 million, signed before the 2023 campaign), he's done a fantastic job in the two years since.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Pancreatic cancer, one of the most devastating cancers, is usually discovered too late to be effectively treated.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastating
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Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2025
At least 3 people have been killed in Haiti as Tropical Storm Melissa causes devastating flooding in the Caribbean and meteorologists warn the storm could become a serious category 4 hurricane.
—Josh Cradduck, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2025
But Díaz has been excellent in his six years as a Met, and even after suffering a devastating leg injury before the first season on his huge contract extension (five years, $102 million, signed before the 2023 campaign), he's done a fantastic job in the two years since.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Pancreatic cancer, one of the most devastating cancers, is usually discovered too late to be effectively treated.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 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 31 Oct. 2025.
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