Definition of exterminatenext

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb exterminate differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of exterminate are eradicate, extirpate, and uproot. While all these words mean "to effect the destruction or abolition of something," exterminate implies complete and immediate extinction by killing off all individuals.

exterminate cockroaches

When is eradicate a more appropriate choice than exterminate?

The meanings of eradicate and exterminate largely overlap; however, eradicate implies the driving out or elimination of something that has established itself.

a campaign to eradicate illiteracy

When is it sensible to use extirpate instead of exterminate?

The words extirpate and exterminate can be used in similar contexts, but extirpate implies extinction of a race, family, species, or sometimes an idea or doctrine by destruction or removal of its means of propagation.

many species have been extirpated from the area

When might uproot be a better fit than exterminate?

In some situations, the words uproot and exterminate are roughly equivalent. However, uproot implies a forcible or violent removal and stresses displacement or dislodgment rather than immediate destruction.

the war uprooted thousands

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 exterminate Together, the pair have to navigate their way through a lunar station that's lost contact and determine why the station's AI has decided to exterminate its human creators. Alan Bradley, Space.com, 5 Jan. 2026 Last year, a leading AfD candidate for the European Parliament insisted that not all members of the Nazi SS paramilitary (responsible for rounding up and exterminating Jews) were criminals. Trudy Rubin, Mercury News, 20 Dec. 2025 Putin’s war aims to exterminate Ukraine as such. Literary Hub, 18 Dec. 2025 In other words, by that point, almost all Indigenous peoples had been exterminated by disease or whatever, or pushed out of the way, and to some extent given smaller reservations to inhabit and the like. JSTOR Daily, 19 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for exterminate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for exterminate
Verb
  • These four novels create a convincing, wrenching, kaleidoscopic picture of the range and repetitions of the most fatal kind of love; the sort of love that allows nothing else to grow around it, that eradicates all dignity; a love which, in order to be completed, must be told.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Because of these and other factors, the program to eradicate coca farming in Colombia failed, and production exploded.
    Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 17 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Cook County has also had a separate program to erase medical debt.
    Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 18 Feb. 2026
  • This administration is literally erasing Black and Transgender people from society.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • In a similar move, Dissanayake's government abolished perks provided to former presidents in September in response to popular demand.
    ABC News, ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
  • The holiday first made it to the states when French explorers settled in New Orleans, and the celebrations stuck until the Spanish gained control of Louisiana and abolished the carnival.
    Paige Moore, AZCentral.com, 16 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Gizmodo continues that the results of the CT scans astonished researchers because her right TMJ, near the ear, had been destroyed.
    Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Half a million acres burned, destroying $300 million in timber and at least 150 homes and other structures.
    Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Exterminate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/exterminate. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on exterminate

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