destroyed 1 of 2

destroyed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of destroy
1
as in demolished
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of they practically destroyed the safe in order to get at the money inside their poor scores on the final exam destroyed any chance they might have had to pass the course

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
3

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of destroyed
Verb
The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 629 Ukrainian drones overnight over 14 Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and the Azov and the Black seas. — Arkansas Online, 19 Sep. 2026 In the course of three weeks, Israeli soldiers destroyed much of the area, razing schools and mosques and commandeering buildings for use as military posts. — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026 Mahasen Fakih had been displaced to the Chouf region and returned to Zawtar a few days ago, and returned to find her home destroyed. — Diego Ibarra Sánchez, NPR, 19 Sep. 2026 People are logically panicked about their jobs being replaced by machines, just like the men who destroyed factories and left notes from the fictional Ned Ludd, thereby launching the Luddite movement. — Pat Gelsinger, Fortune, 19 Sep. 2026 Another Russian drone attack destroyed a shopping complex in Zaporizhzhia, injuring one person and triggering a fire, the emergency service said. — Samya Kullab, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026 The unit – cobbled together from pilots without units – shot down or destroyed more than 200 Japanese planes from August 1943 to January 1944. — Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026 In the Boryspil district, a fire sparked by a strike partially destroyed a nine-story residential building. — ABC News, 5 Sep. 2026 Hassouna soon cuts to the aftermath of warning strikes that have destroyed 12 houses near the Shujaiya quarter of Gaza City. — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for destroyed
Adjective
  • Sitting on the rim of his consciousness was always cataclysm, the muted whisper of a ruined world.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
Verb
  • The block that houses Monarch Donuts will soon be demolished as construction starts on a new retail and residential development called the Arcadia Town Center.
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Part of the former Bob Jones Shoes building in the Crossroads could be demolished.
    — Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 20 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Many came from Lee County, which is both where the book is set and one of the counties most ravaged by the opioid epidemic.
    — Casey Cep, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
  • This was a big deal; years earlier, Zespri had specifically created the sweeter golden kiwifruit to be resistant to a disease that had ravaged kiwifruit orchards around the world.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The United Nations said last week that more Ukrainian civilians were killed and wounded in the first eight months of 2026 than in the whole of last year.
    — HANNA ARHIROVA, Arkansas Online, 25 Sep. 2026
  • This Uhura manages to make an emergency transport back to Enterprise, but Scotty is killed.
    — Joe Otterson, Variety, 24 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Police and firefighters responding to the area discovered the wrecked vehicle along the hillside.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Hundreds of clay jars known as amphorae were discovered inside the wrecked ship, alongside lead anchor stocks and other artifacts, police said.
    — Isabella Colletta, NBC news, 10 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Sitting by the defense table in a wheelchair during Wednesday’s proceedings, Weinstein looked straight ahead as Haley, 49, told the court in tears that her self-esteem had been shattered by the attack and by having to relive it repeatedly.
    — Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Zhu has lived in four tech houses, and her view of them as utopic spaces for entrepreneurs was shattered by her experience.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 23 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The region was also among those most severely affected by the February 2023 earthquakes that devastated southern Turkey and northern Syria.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2026
  • The horrors for women and girls are prevalent everywhere, Theron said, but her native South Africa is particularly devastated by it.
    — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • In July 2025, the EPA entered into an agreement with Vistra to remove damaged batteries from its property.
    — Tim Fang, CBS News, 18 Sep. 2026
  • In the port city of Odesa, one person was killed in a Russian attack that sparked a fire at garages and damaged vehicles and private homes, Serhii Lysak, head of the city’s military administration, wrote on Telegram Wednesday.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Destroyed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/destroyed. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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