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

According to reports, a devastated Charles tried to stop Camilla from marrying Parker Bowles, but the pair remained friends. —Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 1 Aug. 2025

The local community is banding together to help a devastated family after a fire killed 4-year-old twin boys in Hermitage. —Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 30 July 2025

The findings were shared with the USAID’s inspector general’s office and State Department officials involved in Middle East policy, said two sources familiar with the matter, and come as dire food shortages deepen in the devastated enclave. —Reuters, NBC news, 26 July 2025

To hear from flood victims themselves, lawmakers are traveling to Kerrville, Texas, along the devastated banks of the Guadalupe River, for a public hearing July 31. —Blaise Gainey, NPR, 21 July 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