1
as in eradicating
to destroy all traces of
the family's attempts to annihilate the roach population in their apartment had met with little success
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in destroying
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
the tornado simply annihilated the family's home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in overcoming
to defeat by a large margin
we didn't just win; we absolutely annihilated them!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of annihilating
Everything there fell apart and perished, as though the steppe were a field of deadly frequency, annihilating, on a molecular level, any object that happened into it.
—
Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
Indiana’s defense is masterful, a plug-and-play roster that is annihilating opponents without its leading tackler.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026
The ruthless annihilating self-criticism silenced by looking into your big brown eyes, a mirror and a time machine.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 12 Dec. 2025
Oh, and stopping the Soviets from annihilating the world.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
As a result, Israel preserved its existence without annihilating vast opposition forces.
—Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2025
Sense-annihilating dreck has become a generational identity that these kids can claim as their own.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 10 Sep. 2025
How is annihilating the world a good defensive measure?
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
An example of that is the suggestion that certain dark matter candidates could become trapped in neutron stars, gathering and gradually annihilating each other thus heating these stellar remnants.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
Indiana’s defense is masterful, a plug-and-play roster that is annihilating opponents without its leading tackler.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 10 Jan. 2026
The ruthless annihilating self-criticism silenced by looking into your big brown eyes, a mirror and a time machine.
—Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 12 Dec. 2025
Oh, and stopping the Soviets from annihilating the world.
—Vulture Editors, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
As a result, Israel preserved its existence without annihilating vast opposition forces.
—Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2025
Sense-annihilating dreck has become a generational identity that these kids can claim as their own.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 10 Sep. 2025
How is annihilating the world a good defensive measure?
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025
An example of that is the suggestion that certain dark matter candidates could become trapped in neutron stars, gathering and gradually annihilating each other thus heating these stellar remnants.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for annihilating
Verb
-
Washington’s cut to funding for a global vaccine alliance could undo decades of progress in the fight against malaria, just as several African nations approach eradicating the disease.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The country built some of the world’s most futuristic highways and was early in eradicating malaria.—
The Atlantic,
The Atlantic,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Modesto Fire Department Firefighters quickly contained and extinguished the fire, preventing it from destroying the home, officials said.—
Richard Ramos,
CBS News,
30 Jan. 2026
-
By the way, the last scene of The Conversation has the paranoid Gene Hackman destroying his apartment in a desperate and futile search for listening devices.—
Rose Horowitch,
The Atlantic,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Here’s her strategy for overcoming procrastination.—
Sophie Caldwell,
CNBC,
29 Jan. 2026
-
For Nayyar, overcoming user hesitancy, particularly among older generations, has been an ongoing educational process.—
Esha Chhabra,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
31 Jan. 2026
-
In erasing these concepts, or transforming them into meaningless slogans, the recent right-wing campaign of educational suppression seeks to eliminate an important means of understanding Black history.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Crews are demolishing Westport infrastructure to construct an underground storage basin to hold water that previously would have flooded Westport buildings.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
26 Jan. 2026
-
On Thursday morning, crews were nearly finished demolishing the adjacent structures, one of which was damaged by a fire in March 2024.—
Thomas Gounley,
Denver Post,
23 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Late in the mess that was the Rams’ final game of the season, Sean McVay was seen frustratingly burying his face in his play card.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Drake Powell followed by scoring six straight points himself, burying a 3 over Jaylen Brown before finishing a tough fadeaway in the lane plus the foul.—
C.J. Holmes,
New York Daily News,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In the wake of the fatal shootings of American citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers during operations on the streets of Minneapolis, a recent YouGov poll shows that more Americans support abolishing ICE than those opposed.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
29 Jan. 2026
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Video footage shows Omar at the town hall, calling for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and for Homeland Security Kristi Noem to resign when a man jumps in front of her and sprays liquid from a syringe on her shirt.—
Boston Herald editorial staff,
Boston Herald,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In fact, for some items, a standard cold wash can be ruining.—
Ashley Chalmers,
The Spruce,
30 Jan. 2026
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The Dodgers’ $240-million signing of Kyle Tucker revived anguished cries that the team is ruining baseball.—
Bill Shaikin,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Annihilating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annihilating. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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