1
as in hell
a state in which everything is out of order
computer network problems created havoc throughout the office
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in devastation
the state or fact of being rendered nonexistent, physically unsound, or useless
the powerful hurricane wreaked havoc all along the coast
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to ravage
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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 havoc
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
To better understand how these storms can wreak so much havoc, our research team created simulations to show how storms interact with Earth’s natural magnetic shield and trigger the dangerous geomagnetic activity that can shut down electric grids.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 Oct. 2025
PC Magazine, 22 May 2025
Plankton: The Movie arrives exclusively on Netflix in 2025.
06 of 06
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025)
Next year SpongeBob returns to theaters with his fourth film, The Search for SquarePants, as Plankton wrecks havoc on Netflix.
—Rendy Jones, EW.com, 2 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for havoc
Noun
The real reason is to wreak as much havoc as humanly possible, or at least that’s what we’re given to believe from the way the hostess swans about while deftly manipulating dozens of puppet strings simultaneously.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2025
To better understand how these storms can wreak so much havoc, our research team created simulations to show how storms interact with Earth’s natural magnetic shield and trigger the dangerous geomagnetic activity that can shut down electric grids.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
Even after hours of fast traveling, horseback riding, and slowly jogging from point A to point B, there were more quests to find, gear to loot, and havoc to wreak.
—PC Magazine, 22 May 2025
Plankton: The Movie arrives exclusively on Netflix in 2025.
06 of 06
The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025)
Next year SpongeBob returns to theaters with his fourth film, The Search for SquarePants, as Plankton wrecks havoc on Netflix.
—Rendy Jones, EW.com, 2 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for havoc
Recent Examples of Synonyms for havoc
Noun
-
The Shea Moisture Define & Shine Edge Gel slicks my edges back without snatching them to hell.—
Kayla Greaves,
Essence,
6 Nov. 2025
-
That's hell for a kid to see that.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
5 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
After constant requests during two years of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli military finally brings our correspondent into the territory to see the devastation in post-war northern Gaza firsthand.—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
5 Nov. 2025
-
In 2005, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, park officials made the decision to close Six Flags New Orleans permanently.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
For the second year in a row, San Francisco has been ravaged by injuries to key players, especially on the defensive side of the football.—
Robert Marvi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The avalanche ravaged the base camp, which is located at an altitude of 4,900 meters, or 16,070 feet.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Lincolnshire club had been locked in a spiral of decline in recent times — going from the second-tier Championship to National League North in the space of 12 years, amid financial chaos — but are now upwardly mobile once more, having won promotion back to the National League last season.—
Philip Buckingham,
New York Times,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Satoru Gojo, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer, arrived to address the chaos, but curse users and spirits plotted to seal him away.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
There are two questions Gazans have usually asked each other since the start of this campaign of unrelenting and systematic destruction, starvation, displacement and mass killing.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Nov. 2025
-
But catastrophes also tend to reveal deficits in society, and the patterns of destruction and abandonment that followed the fire—which have roots in America’s past and its present—tell us something about the country’s future, too.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Leaders in Congress agreed and sent out armadas of patriot privateers to do just that, plundering British shipping around the Atlantic rim and forcing Royal Navy warships to redeploy to convoy duty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Pahlavi ruled from 1941 to 1979, when the Islamic Revolution ousted him amid allegations of repression and accusations that the pro-Western longtime ruler had plundered his nation’s treasury.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Second shift is a real mess after a blackout strikes the area, forcing Robert (by way of the player) to hack into the city’s electric grid and turn the lights back on one section at a time.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
-
For larger messes, the stain-resistant rug is also machine-washable for quick and hassle-free maintenance.—
Rachel Trujillo,
PEOPLE,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
This means clear ownership, strategic leadership, and, above all, profit-and-loss accountability.—
Phil Gilbert,
Fortune,
12 Nov. 2025
-
Three years later, a clinical study of the Pro, paid for by Stryker, found that 1 in 4 patients experienced complications after getting the implant, ranging from infection to avascular necrosis, the death of bone tissue due to loss of blood.—
Elizabeth B. Kim,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
12 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Havoc.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/havoc. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share