Synonyms of demolish

demolish

verb

di-ˈmä-lish 

1

as in to destroy

to destroy (as a building) completely by knocking down or breaking to pieces

developers demolished the old warehouse to make room for the new shopping mall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroy
• raze
• smash
• ruin
• tear down
• unbuild
• pull down
• wreck
• overturn
• finish
• dynamite
• obliterate
• level
• flatten
• eradicate
• ravage
• abolish
• decimate
• annihilate
• devastate
• pulverize
• extirpate
• wipe out
• devour
• waste
• dissolve
• unmake
• blow up
• crush
• total
• scourge
• do in
• crack up
• dash

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• build
• construct
• erect
• raise
• put up
• restore
• rebuild
• renew
• create
• make
• renovate
• form
• manufacture
• shape
• forge
• fabricate
• fashion

2

as in to ruin

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

most of the buildings in the town had been demolished in the bombing raid

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

3

as in to shatter

to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive

terrorists used a powerful pipe bomb to demolish the concrete wall around the compound

Synonyms & Similar Words

• shatter
• smash
• destroy
• blow
• explode
• burst
• pop
• blast
• detonate
• blow up
• annihilate
• ruin
• decimate
• wreck
• dynamite
• fragment
• discharge
• splinter

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• collapse
• implode

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of demolish

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in July that Israeli forces further south had demolished more than 15,000 homes in border villages to prevent residents from returning. — Jane Arraf, NPR, 1 Aug. 2026

Despite being identified decades ago, the exact trigger of the joint-demolishing condition is still unclear. — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 31 July 2026

There wasn't even money to demolish the building, so the rivers of humanity who once flowed through the grand space were replaced by voyeurs from the world come to gawk at its cavernous shell. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026

Etna’s country prevails but is demolished in the process; its people and animals are left wrecked, hungry, and homeless. — Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026