Synonyms of devours

devours

verb

present tense third-person singular of devour

1

as in consumes

to destroy all trace of

a series of devastating storms devoured the beach on the south side of the island

Synonyms & Similar Words

• consumes
• demolishes
• devastates
• eats (up)
• ruins
• drains
• shatters
• eradicates
• depletes
• wrecks
• extinguishes
• spends
• expends
• guts
• exhausts
• obliterates
• annihilates
• pulverizes
• removes
• decimates
• smashes
• uses up
• wastes
• stamps (out)
• exterminates
• wipes out
• desolates
• razes
• extirpates
• tears down
• does in
• blots out
• rubs out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protects
• saves
• preserves
• builds
• raises
• conserves
• constructs
• erects
• puts up

2

as in spends

to make complete use of

a catastrophic medical event that devoured their savings

Synonyms & Similar Words

• consumes
• spends
• exhausts
• drains
• absorbs
• reduces
• eats
• burns
• uses
• depletes
• expends
• empties
• plays out
• decreases
• draws down
• runs out of
• uses up
• diminishes
• wastes
• lowers
• weakens
• downsizes
• dwindles
• undermines
• impoverishes
• lessens
• saps
• debilitates
• disables
• cripples
• abates
• bankrupts
• cleans (out)
• blows
• enfeebles
• guzzles
• squanders
• lavishes
• dissipates
• de-escalates
• dries up
• runs through
• throws away
• fritters (away)
• misspends

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• replaces
• increases
• renews
• enlarges
• augments
• reinforces
• enforces
• strengthens
• restores
• repairs
• preserves
• revives
• saves
• conserves
• fortifies
• bolsters
• rebuilds

3

as in inhales

to swallow or eat greedily

the starving villagers simply devoured the relief food

Synonyms & Similar Words

• inhales
• gulps
• crams
• scoffs
• gobbles
• scarfs
• wolfs
• slops
• ravens
• gorges
• gluts
• bolts
• overeats
• ingurgitates
• gormandizes
• swills
• pigs out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• picks
• pecks
• nibbles

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of devours

Usually, either a star and its companion mind their own business or the star completely and rapidly devours its neighbor. — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 5 Oct. 2026

The larvae come from the Cochliomyia hominivorax fly, which invades open wounds or the mucous membranes of body openings in any warm-blooded animal, including humans, and devours tissue, causing the wounds to become increasingly deep and painful. — Abraham Tellez, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026

The fungus then slowly devours the ant, sprouting through its head in one final indignity. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 6 Aug. 2026

Regardless, there’s a clear symbolism to Clark empathizing and embracing a bloated externalization of his own inchoate fury until someone with an outside perspective disturbs his peace, and that fury breaks loose and devours him. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 29 May 2026

In my experience, urgency devours strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. — Allison Mais, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026

There are Americans—and Britons and Canadians and Australians and Europeans, too—who remember that a society that turns on its Jewish minority eventually devours itself. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026

Today, the city devours tens of millions every year. — Susan Spencer, CBS News, 17 May 2026

His popularity’s decline was shaped partly by race, partly by our deep but uneven revulsion toward scandal involving children, and partly by a media ecosystem that devours spectacle. — Steven Gray, Time, 29 Apr. 2026