Synonyms of destroying

destroying

verb

present participle of destroy

1

as in ruining

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

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in ravaging

to bring destruction to (something) through violent action

wildfires destroyed thousands of acres in forests across the state

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ravaging
• devastating
• ruining
• wrecking
• plundering
• obliterating
• eradicating
• shattering
• scourging
• stripping
• despoiling
• looting
• demolishing
• pillaging
• sacking
• annihilating
• extinguishing
• vaporizing
• decimating
• marauding
• wasting
• smashing
• expunging
• extirpating
• harrying
• wiping out
• totaling
• overwhelming
• razing
• nuking
• wracking
• mowing
• overthrowing
• desolating
• overrunning
• foraying
• overpowering
• crushing
• rubbing out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• restoring
• recovering
• rehabilitating
• repairing
• fixing
• redeeming
• reconditioning
• mending
• patching
• revamping

3

as in killing

to deprive of life

regrettably, the veterinarian was forced to destroy the injured horse

Synonyms & Similar Words

• killing
• slaying
• taking
• murdering
• dispatching
• claiming
• slaughtering
• felling
• carrying off
• doing away with
• assassinating
• doing for
• neutralizing
• doing in
• croaking
• wasting
• annihilating
• decimating
• finishing
• massacring
• snuffing
• making away with
• butchering
• cutting down
• whacking
• executing
• smiting
• mowing
• terminating
• getting
• offing
• taking out
• killing off
• putting away
• rubbing out
• blotting out
• knocking off
• icing
• bumping off
• scragging
• martyring
• euthanizing
• putting down
• suiciding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• restoring
• animating
• raising
• reviving
• resurrecting
• nurturing
• resuscitating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of destroying

Keeping your lawn and garden well-maintained can also help reduce grasshopper populations by destroying their breeding habitat. — The Spruce, 21 July 2026

But the Pentagon’s youthful set of avid desk-warriors forget that big hurricanes and regional weather events regularly disrupt waterfront facilities on the Gulf and East coasts, destroying worker housing and permanently peeling away shipbuilders. — Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Both are movements intent on destroying the traditional parts of their parties, and no amount of appeasement will change their objective. — Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 20 July 2026

Notably, last week, the famous Fontainebleau Forest near Paris was set alight, destroying 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of woodland. — Simon Constable, FOXNews.com, 19 July 2026

The film sees the Laestrygonians reimagined as gargantuan armored knights who trap Odysseus’s men in cages formed by manipulating the forest woods, destroying two of his three ships in the process. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 17 July 2026

The tale of a man who built a machine to win a war and wound up destroying his own world in the process. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 17 July 2026

Los Angeles Fire Department arson investigators are probing a destructive fire that ripped through a Sun Valley strip mall early Sunday morning, destroying a beloved family-run market. — Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 14 July 2026

The Supreme Court is destroying originalism in order to save it. — Noah Feldman, Mercury News, 14 July 2026