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

More than two centuries later, a young woman Lucy emerges from Vault 33 to explore a devastated Los Angeles. —Clayton Davis, Variety, 10 Apr. 2024

President Joe Biden's plan to build a humanitarian pier floating off the coast of Gaza that could enable delivery of food, water and medicine into the devastated region is expect to cost at least $180 million and could top $200 million, ABC News has learned. —Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2024

The Israeli military’s departure from southern Gaza over the weekend has left the devastated territory in a state of suspense as active fighting there receded on Monday to its lowest ebb since a brief truce with Hamas in November. —Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024

From the Palestinian perspective, if Israeli troops remain in Gaza, if there's no plan to rebuild the devastated territory and no political horizon for a Palestinian state, that's not going to be acceptable to Palestinians. —Greg Myre, NPR, 6 Apr. 2024

Within hours of the leaders' tense call, the Israeli government announced new measures to increase aid to the devastated coastal enclave. —USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024

Many of those at immediate risk live in Gaza’s devastated northern regions, which are cut off from the south by Israeli forces and receive only a paltry trickle of the already-meagre aid that’s entering Gaza. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2024

Mike swiftly turned down Natalie’s offer, leaving her devastated and confused. —Kelly Wynne, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024

Israel said its raid of al-Shifa Hospital continued Sunday in Gaza City, as the days-long military operation prompted alarm from global health officials and residents in the enclave’s devastated north. —Annabelle Timsit, Washington Post, 24 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at sense 1