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

This month the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District will be performing live fire training drills at a private Rancho Santa Fe home that is slated to be demolished. — Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2026

The society was formed in 1956 with the express objective to save the old Murphy homestead (called Bay View), which was demolished in 1961 to make way for Central Expressway, even though it had been declared an historical landmark just a year prior. — Katharina Woodman, Mercury News, 5 July 2026

Djokovic put in a masterful performance against a player who had gone in as many people’s favorite after demolishing the champion of two years earlier, Andy Murray, in the semifinals. — Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 5 July 2026

Of the 53 buildings to be demolished, 13 remain as of late June. — Addison Wright, Chicago Tribune, 4 July 2026