Synonyms of devastating

devastating 1 of 2

adjective

ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ 

as in disastrous

causing or tending to cause destruction

a devastating blow to our morale

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disastrous
• destructive
• devastative
• deadly
• lethal
• ruinous
• fatal
• calamitous
• poisonous
• annihilatory
• fell
• murderous
• cataclysmal
• killer
• harmful
• detrimental
• virulent
• deleterious
• pernicious
• antibiotic
• vital
• mortal
• baleful
• deathly
• biocidal
• pestilent

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protective
• nondestructive
• constructive
• creative
• productive
• useful
• harmless
• formative
• helpful
• innocuous
• innocent
• healthy
• preservative
• healthful
• wholesome
• inoffensive
• ameliorative
• nonfatal
• salubrious
• nonlethal

devastating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of devastate

1

as in ravaging

to bring destruction to (something) through violent action

the city was devastated, first by the earthquake and then by fires

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

2

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

the explosion devastated an entire city block

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

3

as in overwhelming

to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress

we were devastated by the awful news of his death

Synonyms & Similar Words

• overwhelming
• overcoming
• crushing
• overpowering
• disturbing
• grinding (down)
• oppressing
• swamping
• overmastering
• rocking
• drowning
• upsetting
• flooring
• shattering
• whelming
• prostrating
• distressing
• defeating
• snowing under
• sinking
• staggering
• unnerving
• demoralizing
• refuting
• throwing
• deluging
• confuting
• unmanning
• breaking

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of devastating

Adjective

Her address highlighted a growing relationship with Washington, including cooperation on energy, security and oil, while acknowledging Venezuela’s political crisis and devastating earthquakes. — Nayara Batschke, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026

And even when patients don’t die, measles can have devastating effects. — Jewel Mullen, STAT, 24 Sep. 2026

Verb

Rescue crews and foreign specialists are racing to find scores of workers feared trapped alive inside hydropower tunnels in Nepal, after thick mud buried the facilities during last week’s devastating flash floods. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026

Dawadi’s decision to evacuate the school saved at least 900 students from last week’s devastating flash floods in Nepal, unleashed after a glacial collapse in the Himalayas. — Shonal Ganguly, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026