Synonyms of decimate

decimate

verb

ˈde-sə-ˌmāt 

as in to destroy

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

the army's attack decimated the enemy's defenses beyond repair

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroy
• demolish
• ruin
• devastate
• shatter
• wreck
• smash
• overcome
• damage
• annihilate
• erode
• vaporize
• ravage
• pulverize
• waste
• extinguish
• raze
• cripple
• desolate
• kill
• total
• mar
• tear down
• cream
• dismantle
• defeat
• rub out
• pull down
• crush
• nuke
• injure
• subdue
• remove
• wrack
• do in
• best
• break
• conquer
• impair
• spoil
• disintegrate
• blast
• eradicate
• harm
• disfigure
• trim
• obliterate
• mutilate
• deteriorate
• dissolve
• lick
• mangle
• rout
• exterminate
• prevail (over)
• master
• win (against)
• surmount
• trounce
• triumph (over)
• vitiate
• clobber
• assassinate
• scour
• beat
• thrash
• whip
• undo
• extirpate
• slaughter
• deface
• wear (away)
• dynamite
• sweep (away)
• expunge
• liquidate
• blow up
• slay
• overmatch
• scotch
• despoil
• trample
• disassemble
• sack
• overbear
• execute
• gut
• pillage
• wash out
• plunder
• fell
• wipe out
• havoc
• wallop
• efface
• unmake
• drub
• blot out
• take down
• massacre
• cut down
• stamp (out)
• loot
• murder
• zap
• butcher
• root (out)
• kill off
• dispatch
• snuff (out)
• dilapidate
• mow (down)
• vandalize
• skunk
• take out
• unbuild
• trash

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• build
• construct
• raise
• create
• set up
• erect
• repair
• produce
• fix
• patch
• put up
• rear
• make
• protect
• establish
• invent
• form
• constitute
• found
• preserve
• assemble
• mend
• shape
• organize
• manufacture
• save
• fabricate
• forge
• revamp
• mold
• frame
• restore
• bring about
• conserve
• recondition
• institute
• fashion
• rebuild
• reconstruct
• doctor
• renovate
• father
• remodel

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of decimate

In the course of that quest, Native populations were decimated. — ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026

Further, the native Taino population had been decimated, and an investigator reported how Columbus used torture and mutilation as punishments. — Matthew Ablon, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2026

Up to 80% of the division staff did exactly that in a wave of departures that has decimated the division's institutional knowledge. — Ryan Lucas, NPR, 11 Oct. 2026

Hamas, which has been decimated but not yet unseated, has so far shown relative restraint and a willingness to absorb regular hits, including a series of assassinations of its members and regular airstrikes by Israel. — Khaled Elgindy, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026

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