as in destroying
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action
the hurricane ravaged the state and caused billions of dollars worth of damage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in 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 ravaging
Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025
Giving Bad Bunny the space to spotlight his culture and politics is a bold move for Apple Music, Roc Nation, and the NFL, in light of the anti-Latino sentiment ravaging the country.
—Vanessa Diaz, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2025
Three weeks later, the 41-year-old was forced to evacuate her home with her newborn due to the devastating fires ravaging Los Angeles.
—Meredith Wilshere, People.com, 14 Sep. 2025
But on an evening back in July, inordinate rainfall led to unrelenting floodwaters ravaging the lower level of Pledger’s home.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
Spain is deploying 500 more soldiers to fight wildfires ravaging the country, as southern Europe faces a wave of extreme climate events fueled by heatwaves.
—Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 17 Aug. 2025
France commenced the latest calls to recognize a Palestinian state when President Emmanuel Macron announced his decision last month, citing the starvation ravaging Gaza’s population.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 11 Aug. 2025
Hero Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) lonely fight for survival gave way to a military mission to vanquish aliens ravaging a human colony; Cameron filled the frame with cocky Marines, boxy space tanks, and an adorable orphan who finds in Ripley a surrogate mother.
—Judy Berman, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
Verb
The question of whether or not Uniqlo is fast fashion or sustainable fashion or ethical fashion has perhaps become irrelevant in a world in which fashion—no modifier needed—is increasingly culpable for the ravaging of the planet.
—Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
Hatred, spread through rhetoric, populism and the internet, acts like a virus, ravaging any healthy social organism and bringing, death, destruction and pain.
—Alejandro González Iñárritu, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2025
Giving Bad Bunny the space to spotlight his culture and politics is a bold move for Apple Music, Roc Nation, and the NFL, in light of the anti-Latino sentiment ravaging the country.
—Vanessa Diaz, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2025
Three weeks later, the 41-year-old was forced to evacuate her home with her newborn due to the devastating fires ravaging Los Angeles.
—Meredith Wilshere, People.com, 14 Sep. 2025
But on an evening back in July, inordinate rainfall led to unrelenting floodwaters ravaging the lower level of Pledger’s home.
—Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2025
Spain is deploying 500 more soldiers to fight wildfires ravaging the country, as southern Europe faces a wave of extreme climate events fueled by heatwaves.
—Tasneem Nashrulla, semafor.com, 17 Aug. 2025
France commenced the latest calls to recognize a Palestinian state when President Emmanuel Macron announced his decision last month, citing the starvation ravaging Gaza’s population.
—Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 11 Aug. 2025
Hero Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) lonely fight for survival gave way to a military mission to vanquish aliens ravaging a human colony; Cameron filled the frame with cocky Marines, boxy space tanks, and an adorable orphan who finds in Ripley a surrogate mother.
—Judy Berman, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ravaging
Verb
-
The former screen siren was fined nearly $25,000 in 2008 after being convicted of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying her country.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Block destruction is one of Minter’s defensive pillars, and the Chargers have not been destroying blocks on some of these explosive runs.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Not even a month had passed since his big sister, Toraya, was shot and killed at an apartment complex in New Jersey, devastating the Reid family and shaking the Timberwolves organization to its core.—
Jon Krawczynski,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
-
Oil was discovered there in the 1920s, and the county went through booms and busts for decades, enriching wildcatters and devastating the landscape, until a lasting bust left Loving County a virtual wasteland with no running water, paved roads, schools, hospitals, or grocery stores.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The coaches also decided King’s wrecking-ball approach was effective.—
Seth Emerson,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
-
The addresses listed in the wrecking permits border the east of the truck plant where Ford makes its iconic Super Duty trucks, Expedition SUVs and luxury Lincoln Navigators.—
Olivia Evans,
Louisville Courier Journal,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Aghion and Howitt studied the mechanisms behind sustained growth, including in a 1992 article that offered a complex mathematical model for creative destruction that added new aspects not included in earlier models.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Still, through the summer of 2020, stories of statue destruction emerged from all corners of the country.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In the filing, Omni Hotels outlined a five-year timeframe that would get the site fully designed, permitted and prepared for construction, noting construction would not start until at least five years after the demolishing of the buildings on site.—
Matthew Glowicki,
The Courier-Journal,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
In fact, the party came within a single vote of getting a constitutional amendment prohibiting desecration of the flag through Congress two decades ago.—
Frederic J. Frommer,
The Washington Examiner,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Its desecration has sparked international outcry and raised concerns about security at major religious sites.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
To call it a Life Ruiner is not to say that a life of letters is necessarily ruination—but rather, to identify it as the book . . .—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
13 Aug. 2025
-
Fetterman and McCormick set for high-stakes Pennsylvania forum MAJOR HEADLINES ‘DAMAGING DECISION’ – Trump says tariff ruling could lead to 'economic ruination' of US.—
,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ravaging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ravaging. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share