as in devastating
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
totally desolated the city with aerial bombs
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolating
Verb
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Not even a month had passed since his big sister, Toraya, was shot and killed at an apartment complex in New Jersey, devastating the Reid family and shaking the Timberwolves organization to its core.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025 -
Oil was discovered there in the 1920s, and the county went through booms and busts for decades, enriching wildcatters and devastating the landscape, until a lasting bust left Loving County a virtual wasteland with no running water, paved roads, schools, hospitals, or grocery stores.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The county was also heavily affected by the 2021 floods that swept most of Middle Tennessee, with high waters washing away multiple roads and even destroying a church in the Pinewood community, according to previous Tennessean reporting.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
Nashville Tennessean,
10 Oct. 2025
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Just two years earlier, devastating floods swept through Middle Tennessee, damaging infrastructure and destroying a church in Pinewood.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Two men left and fired into the restaurant from the outside, shattering windows and striking two teenagers.—
David Ferrara,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
14 Oct. 2025
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The crash’s giddy prequel, dramatic unfolding, and shattering aftermath—the Great Depression—has long provided compelling material for writers.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Packages of flying tortillas thrown at the wrong time, or pocket knives, would only hurt a reputation that Texas Tech has worked doggedly to change and show that the Red Raiders are at home on a national stage, and not the crazy drunk uncle ruining a holiday.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Oct. 2025
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Since 2021, Spotify has offered an alternative app for kids to listen to music without ruining their parents recommendations.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Barner holds his arms parallel to the ground and swings them side to side while slowly stomping forward like Godzilla demolishing a city.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
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Often, demolishing a former shopping mall can be easier for builders who might then decide to build luxury housing that does not address the current affordability crisis.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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One raid saw masked federal agents repelling from Black Hawk helicopters and wrecking an apartment building.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
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The wrecking-ball style is the way King played even at Longview (Texas) High, where his father was the coach, and didn’t coddle or protect his son, as Dickey remembers.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Balmer reportedly scaled a wall outside the mansion in Harrisburg before smashing windows, throwing homemade incendiary devices and eventually entering himself.—
Liam Quinn,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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The Vultee aircraft completed a flight from Los Angeles to New York in 11 hours and 34 minutes and 16 seconds, smashing the existing record of 12 hours for that distance.—
Stuart Dyos,
Nashville Tennessean,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That damaging psychic weight of insecurity and self-blame seeps into our society and politics, where polls show a stubborn and longtime trend of declining faith in a better future.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
11 Oct. 2025
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Several police officers reported that rioters were forcibly removing and damaging their equipment.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
11 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Desolating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolating. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
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