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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolating
Verb
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Our team found that a hospital cyberattack cut the odds of surviving a cardiac arrest without devastating brain damage by nearly 90% at nearby hospitals, not just the one that was attacked.—
Christian Dameff,
The Conversation,
20 Mar. 2026 -
Israel has stepped up assassinations of top Iranian officials in recent days, in what the Israel Defense Forces said was a push to undermine command and control in Iran after more than two weeks of devastating airstrikes that have wiped out military infrastructure but not dislodged the regime.—
Victoria Craw,
Washington Post,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Pentagon has generally lumped it into the first objective of destroying Iran’s missile capability.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Mar. 2026
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But there may be an answer, or at least a compromise that will satisfy those unhappy with the idea of destroying a usable building.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Martha had a confidence-shattering experience with her previous boyfriend.—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
29 Mar. 2026
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Atlanta Police Department During the incident, a stray bullet struck an Atlanta Public Schools bus, shattering one of its windows.—
CBS News Atlanta Staff,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Accused of ruining baseball with their big-spending ways the past two years, the noise has only gotten louder as a labor showdown looms.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
29 Mar. 2026
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To figure out its mechanism, Julius’s team had to somehow extract it from cells without ruining the very properties the researchers were trying to understand.—
Jacek Krywko,
Scientific American,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But the grumblings about demolishing the library building have lately become a roaring debate.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
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Israel’s defense minister said the military would accelerate demolishing homes along the southern Lebanese border and destroy all bridges over the Litani River.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
23 Mar. 2026
Verb
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This might drive like a dirt race, giving Reddick, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell a chance to shine as their cars are on the verge of wrecking.—
Jordan Bianchi,
New York Times,
21 Mar. 2026
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The episode about Secret Squirrel and the perils of surveillance culture feels more relevant than ever, as does the climate-change episode in which the time-traveling Jetson family sues people of the present for wrecking their future.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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One of the men is seen on surveillance video smashing the front door with a metal object and connecting the ATM to the vehicle using a metal cable.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 Mar. 2026
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Particle accelerators like the LHC typically work by firing beams of particles at nearly the speed of light and smashing them together.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Police say the semi truck driver went through a median wall, severely damaging it.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Photos on local media and social networks showed fallen trees in Zagreb, pulled out by their roots, some blocking streets or damaging parked cars.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Desolating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolating. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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