annihilating

present participle of annihilate
1
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

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of annihilating As an arachnid alien-annihilating action game, Helldivers seems like the perfect recipe for a popcorn flick. Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026 Chess is about annihilating your opponent. Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 June 2026 However, this new research showed that these point sources, including pulsars, would be extremely faint, and that is good news for scientists who favor annihilating dark matter as the cause of these gamma rays. Robert Lea, Space.com, 21 June 2026 If Neptune did have an original set of moons that more closely resembled those of its planetary neighbors, the arrival of Triton — which is just smaller than our own moon — would have wreaked havoc, crashing into the other satellites and annihilating some of them. Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 20 May 2026 Now southern Republicans are annihilating Black political power. Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 19 May 2026 Instead, it is filled with a froth of virtual particles becoming real in pairs, waving to us, annihilating each other, and sinking back into the soup of virtual particles. Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 May 2026 One compelling hypothesis is that dark matter particles in the dense central halo are interacting with and annihilating one another, releasing energy as gamma rays. Paul M. Sutter, Scientific American, 6 May 2026 That means eliminating Iran's Navy, which is now absolutely destroyed, hurting their Air Force and their missile program at levels never seen before, and annihilating their defense industrial base. James Powel, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for annihilating
Verb
  • This oral therapy marks a major step toward eradicating cardiovascular disease.
    Robert Glatter, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • When William and his brother, Prince Harry, were young boys, the former Princess of Wales would regularly take them to homeless shelters, and eradicating homelessness has become a cornerstone of the future king’s royal work.
    Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 30 June 2026
Verb
  • After flying toward a naval target over the Black Sea, the aircraft launched one of the supersonic missiles from a stand-off distance exceeding 120 kilometers, successfully destroying its target.
    Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026
  • Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigators are probing a destructive fire that ripped through a Sun Valley strip mall early Sunday morning, destroying a beloved family-run market.
    Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 14 July 2026
Verb
  • England had seen off Italy on the Tuesday, with Spain overcoming Germany on the Wednesday.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 July 2026
  • Exhibited for the first time outside of Sarajevo, the churning Socialist Realist homage invokes Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People in figuring partisans heroically overcoming their would-be Nazi aggressors.
    Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • These hit the ticker the same day IBM cratered 25%, erasing roughly $40 billion in market value on a revenue miss that, in any other environment, would have been unremarkable.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 15 July 2026
  • Elon Musk’s rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence company has plunged one-third from its post-listing peak, erasing nearly $850 billion in value.
    Bloomberg, Mercury News, 15 July 2026
Verb
  • Beyond the environmental costs, demolishing and hauling away the remnants of huge buildings is especially expensive in dense cities such as New York.
    ABC News, ABC News, 10 July 2026
  • This project, which is under review by the city, proposes demolishing the long-defunct Kmart building and bringing residences, shops and a new Publix to the plaza.
    Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 9 July 2026
Verb
  • The landslide occurred in Pengshui County on Friday morning on the outskirts of Chongqing municipality, when massive amounts of rocks and soil washed down a slope, burying more than 10 residential buildings, state broadcaster CCTV said.
    ABC News, ABC News, 18 July 2026
  • Police said the man continued to resist being handcuffed by burying his left arm under his body, so one of the officers struck him on the side of his body, which is when video of the incident that were sent to the Statesman began.
    Alex Brizee July 17, Idaho Statesman, 17 July 2026
Verb
  • Lisa Walker-Yeager Lisa Walker-Yeager is running a campaign focused on abolishing or significantly reducing the property tax burden that residents, particularly senior citizens, have at a time when most goods and services are more expensive.
    Sofi Zeman July 16, Kansas City Star, 16 July 2026
  • Polling found that support for abolishing ICE surged even among Republicans after the killing of the 37-year-old ICU nurse.
    Michael Loria, USA Today, 15 July 2026
Verb
  • Plus, one of the biggest things that holds people back from DIY is a fear of ruining their home, but that’s virtually impossible with peel-and-stick wallpaper.
    Ashley Chalmers, The Spruce, 13 July 2026
  • Clothes moths are indoor pests notorious for ruining the best threads in any closet.
    Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 July 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Annihilating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annihilating. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on annihilating

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster