havoc

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noun hav·oc \ ˈha-vək , -vik \

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

Hurricane Harvey has wreaked havoc in Texas since making landfall on Friday, with torrential rain causing the Houston area to experience one of the worst flooding disasters in U.S. history.

— lisa ryan, The Cut, "How You Can Help Hurricane Harvey Victims," 28 Aug. 2017
To make matters worse, widespread insecticide use has contaminated soils and streams and wreaked havoc on beneficial insects, such as bees and other pollinators.

— robert f. service, Science | AAAS, "Pesticide-spiked punch lures mosquitoes to their doom," 24 Aug. 2017
But on the field, the 275-pound nose guard wreaks havoc for the Pirates.

— michael osipoff, Post-Tribune, "Countdown to Football: Merrillville ranked No. 6 by the Post-Tribune," 12 Aug. 2017
That said, as the iceberg ages and potentially moves to warmer waters while breaking into smaller pieces, the aftermath of this split could wreak havoc on ships traveling near South America.

— brittney mcnamara, Teen Vogue, "Antartica Just Lost a Massive Block of Ice," 12 July 2017
In his freshman highlight tape (embedded below and linked here) Kinsler consistently wreaks havoc as a speed rusher off the edge.

— steve jones, The Courier-Journal, "2020 Florida pass rusher LaTarie Kinsler commits to Louisville football," 11 July 2017
Before long, those at the Mobile operation realized this wasn't the result of a crashed server or a severed fiber line: They were caught up in a cyberattack wreaking havoc around the globe.

— lawrence specker, AL.com, "'Petya' cyberattack: Teamwork, pride fueled Alabama terminal's fight to rebound," 9 July 2017
This solid 85 percent is despite a deeply unpopular Obamacare replacement, which clearly targets Trump’s core voters, and would wreak real havoc in their lives.

— andrew sullivan, Daily Intelligencer, "Why Republicans Let Trump Take Over Their Party," 7 July 2017
Wimbledon, one of the most prominent tennis tournaments in the world, was faced with a predicament today: A massive swarm of flying ants infiltrated the courts, wreaking havoc on the players, umpires, and spectators.

— devon ivie, Teen Vogue, "Wimbledon Has Become Infested With Flying Ants," 6 July 2017

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.