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

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

devastatingly

ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ-lē 

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

Synonyms of devastating

• disastrous
• destructive
• devastative
• deadly

Examples of devastating in a Sentence

a devastating blow to our morale

Recent Examples on the Web

Hong Kong — The number of people killed in the devastating Hong Kong apartment complex fire has risen to 128 with as many as 200 missing, officials said Friday, as authorities announced eight more arrests over the blaze. —Chris Lau, CNN Money, 28 Nov. 2025

Israel says its ongoing strikes are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding after a devastating war last year ended with a ceasefire. —NPR, 28 Nov. 2025

Some investors have expressed worry that an AI bubble could burst, triggering devastating financial losses. —CBS News, 28 Nov. 2025

His romance with Meredith became one of the show's most popular storylines, which made his sudden death in season 11 all the more devastating. —Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for devastating

• abdicating
• abrogating
• activating
• actuating
• advocating
• aggravating
• aggregating
• agitating
• allocating
• alternating
• animating
• annotating