havoc

noun hav·oc \ ˈha-vək , -vik \

|Updated on: 20 Aug 2018

Examples: havoc in a Sentence

Definition of havoc

1 : wide and general destruction : devastation

A tornado wreaked havoc on the town two years ago.

2 : great confusion and disorder

the blackout caused havoc in the city

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Examples of havoc in a Sentence

The disease can play havoc with the body's immune system.
Several small children can create havoc in a house.

Recent Examples of havoc from the Web

Highly contagious funguses can wreak havoc on the digestive systems of bees, greatly reducing their lifespan and activity.

— kevin davenport, idahostatesman, "Why are these 250,000 bees hanging out on this sweet Downtown Boise rooftop?," 11 July 2018
Yet the sweat continued to drip down his arm and wreak havoc on his command.

— maria torres, kansascity, "As Trevor Oaks wobbles and Alex Gordon steals home, Royals are swept by the Indians," 4 July 2018
That has left the most vulnerable patients often ping-ponging between institutions, wreaking havoc with patients' care.

— jordan rau, chicagotribune.com, "Medicare takes aim at boomerang hospitalizations of nursing home patients," 22 June 2018
That has left the most vulnerable patients often ping-ponging between institutions, wreaking havoc with patients’ care.

— jordan rau, Washington Post, "Medicare Takes Aim At Boomerang Hospitalizations Of Nursing Home Patients," 13 June 2018
In a recent article on the Capitol Weekly website, Mitchell pointed to a number of problems wreaking havoc with polling that attempts to show how the various candidates and campaigns are doing.

— john wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle, "Election night: Why the first returns may tell the whole story," 29 May 2018
The rocket was launched in dismal weather and 36 seconds after liftoff, a lightning bolt hit the Saturn 5 followed 16 seconds later by a second strike, wreaking havoc with the on-board electronics.

— william harwood, CBS News, "Alan Bean, astronaut who walked on the moon, dies at 86," 26 May 2018
Mother Nature is wreaking havoc across the US with lava flows, earthquakes and geysers.

— zach wade, CNN, "Quickly catch up on the day's news," 21 May 2018
That could cause havoc with the pricing and liquidity of funds which track MSCI’s indexes.

— jacky wong, WSJ, "Chinese Stocks Aren’t Normal—Whatever MSCI Thinks," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'havoc.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of havoc

Middle English havok, from Anglo-French, modification of Old French havot plunder

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

havoc Synonyms

havoc

verb

Definition of havoc

havocked; havocking

transitive verb

: to lay waste : destroy

Recent Examples of havoc from the Web

So asking other states for help before Maria, which might have lined up resources for Puerto Rico more quickly, would have been an expensive undertaking without knowing for sure what havoc the storm would wreak.

— patricia mazzei and omaya sosa pascual, miamiherald, "How a slow response hurt Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria | Miami Herald," 19 Oct. 2017