devastating

adjective

dev·as·tat·ing | \ ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ

Definition of devastating

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

2 : 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

3 : extremely effective or powerful a devastating satire He had a devastating wit and an utter contempt for shoddy work in physics.— Jeremy Bernstein

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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 Postcards from the Edge is a devastatingly savvy, bitingly funny, yet sad movie based on Carrie Fisher's autobiographical novel about Hollywood. — Jeffrey Lyons … is portrayed as a devastatingly effective power broker in the Senate. — Alan Brinkley