devastating

1 of 2

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

devastating

2 of 2

present participle of devastate

Synonyms of devastating

Adjective

• disastrous
• destructive
• devastative
• deadly

Examples of devastating in a Sentence

Adjective

a devastating blow to our morale

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Richard Gere has sent a message of support to the people of Nepal and Tibet following devastating landslides and flash floods on their border in which at least a thousand people are believed to have died. — Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2026

He was further informed that Freya’s grandfather survived the devastating Russian siege of Bucha in 2022. — Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

Vanessa came to the United States after surviving Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake. — Tania Francois, Miami Herald, 27 Aug. 2026

Aid workers say Nepalese authorities are well-practiced in disaster response, having learned from Nepal's devastating 2015 earthquake, which killed more than 1,000 people. — Diaa Hadid, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for devastating

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