Synonyms of demolishing

demolishing 1 of 2

noun

as in wrecking

Related Words

• wrecking
• destruction
• desecration
• ravaging
• demolishment
• ravage
• trashing
• ruination
• desecrating
• vandalism
• ruin
• defacement
• defacing
• sabotage
• vandalization
• looting
• plundering
• pillaging
• marauding
• despoiling
• pillage
• ransacking
• spoliation
• plunder
• predation
• depredation
• sacking
• despoilment

Dissimilar Words

• saving
• protection
• preservation
• conservation
• salvage

demolishing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of demolish

1

as in destroying

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

• destroying
• razing
• smashing
• wrecking
• ruining
• unbuilding
• tearing down
• dynamiting
• finishing
• leveling
• pulling down
• overturning
• flattening
• obliterating
• ravaging
• eradicating
• abolishing
• decimating
• wasting
• pulverizing
• annihilating
• devastating
• extirpating
• devouring
• crushing
• dissolving
• wiping out
• totaling
• blowing up
• unmaking
• dashing
• cracking up
• doing in
• scourging

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• building
• constructing
• erecting
• raising
• restoring
• rebuilding
• creating
• renewing
• making
• forming
• putting up
• shaping
• manufacturing
• renovating
• forging
• fashioning
• fabricating

2

as in ruining

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

• destroying
• ruining
• wrecking
• shattering
• smashing
• devastating
• overcoming
• damaging
• wasting
• razing
• annihilating
• extinguishing
• eroding
• pulverizing
• decimating
• dismantling
• vaporizing
• marring
• ravaging
• killing
• crushing
• totaling
• removing
• defeating
• creaming
• crippling
• blasting
• nuking
• breaking
• tearing down
• pulling down
• wracking
• injuring
• doing in
• subduing
• conquering
• desolating
• disintegrating
• trimming
• mutilating
• licking
• spoiling
• dissolving
• deteriorating
• rubbing out
• impairing
• dynamiting
• harming
• mastering
• clobbering
• eradicating
• surmounting
• defacing
• whipping
• obliterating
• prevailing (over)
• gutting
• mangling
• routing
• disfiguring
• thrashing
• disassembling
• winning (against)
• besting
• beating
• slaughtering
• scouring
• undoing
• walloping
• vandalizing
• exterminating
• wearing (away)
• assassinating
• murdering
• expunging
• liquidating
• plundering
• triumphing (over)
• trouncing
• vitiating
• sacking
• extirpating
• sweeping (away)
• executing
• looting
• trashing
• effacing
• pillaging
• overmatching
• despoiling
• trampling
• scotching
• blowing up
• massacring
• washing out
• unbuilding
• wiping out
• slaying
• dispatching
• dilapidating
• taking down
• overbearing
• drubbing
• butchering
• stamping (out)
• cutting down
• unmaking
• zapping
• blotting out
• rooting (out)
• felling
• killing off
• skunking
• taking out
• mowing (down)
• snuffing (out)
• havocking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• building
• constructing
• erecting
• repairing
• raising
• creating
• fixing
• rearing
• setting up
• making
• producing
• forming
• putting up
• inventing
• establishing
• assembling
• shaping
• manufacturing
• organizing
• revamping
• fashioning
• forging
• framing
• protecting
• preserving
• fabricating
• molding
• constituting
• patching
• reconditioning
• instituting
• saving
• mending
• rebuilding
• restoring
• conserving
• doctoring
• founding
• reconstructing
• bringing about
• remodeling
• renovating
• fathering

3

as in shattering

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

• shattering
• smashing
• destroying
• blowing
• blasting
• exploding
• bursting
• popping
• detonating
• wrecking
• blowing up
• dynamiting
• ruining
• annihilating
• decimating
• fragmenting
• discharging
• splintering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• collapsing
• imploding

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of demolishing

Noun

In the filing, Omni Hotels outlined a five-year timeframe that would get the site fully designed, permitted and prepared for construction, noting construction would not start until at least five years after the demolishing of the buildings on site. — Matthew Glowicki, The Courier-Journal, 28 Aug. 2025

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, 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

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

The redevelopment plan involves demolishing a section of the existing shopping center to accommodate a new 47,000-square-foot Publix grocery store. — Catherine Muccigrosso july 1, Charlotte Observer, 1 July 2026

And the first round this year certainly had its shining moments – from demolishing Paraguay to tidily dispatching Australia. — Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 30 June 2026

But everyday people expressed their political outrage time and again, throwing rocks at and demolishing the houses of government officials, torching the king’s ships and forts and, eventually, marching to battle. — Robert Parkinson, The Conversation, 24 June 2026

During that 25-day closure, PennDOT crews will be demolishing the existing Commercial Street Bridge and sliding in the new bridge, which has been constructed alongside the Parkway East outside of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel. — Mike Darnay, CBS News, 24 June 2026

Indeed, many media observers—inside and outside the network—have gone so far as to suggest that demolishing the status quo seems to be central to Weiss’s mandate. — Claire Zillman, Fortune, 12 June 2026