1
as in ravaged
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action
barbarians scourged the countryside, leaving village after village burned to the ground
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in whipped
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
scourge the tree with a whip to loosen the bark
Synonyms & Similar 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 scourged
These scourged the poor harder than anyone else.
—
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 31 Aug. 2025
Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 31 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scourged
Verb
-
Starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson as the titular pop superstar, the movie has been ravaged by critics.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
22 Apr. 2026
-
Still, Monday’s earthquake and tsunami warning were a reminder to the quake-prone area of the March 2011 disaster that ravaged large swaths of the northern coast, triggering a nuclear crisis in Fukushima.—
Mari Yamaguchi,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Those three words — which end up being alien, glamorous, and whipped — will shape their dishes.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
21 Apr. 2026
-
But Reigns whipped Punk into the barricade and continued his assault in the crowd.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
While in the region, Curiosity recently utilized its onboard Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite, built to search for compounds of the element carbon that are associated with life and investigate ways in which these compounds are generated and destroyed in the Martian ecosphere.—
Leonard David,
Space.com,
21 Apr. 2026
-
That investigation stemmed from a June 8, 1995, fire that destroyed a ValuJet DC-9 on a runway at Atlanta.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Nearly every time Democrats brought up the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade largely being created through new work requirements for enrollees, Kennedy lashed back to argue there are no cuts to Medicaid.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Apr. 2026
-
As Fils-Aimé and Rubio met, heavy rain lashed metropolitan Port-au-Prince, where several streets were flooded, making traffic difficult and disrupting residents’ daily activities.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Two young Alabama siblings are dead following an early morning crash, leaving their mother devastated at the sudden loss.—
Angel Saunders,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Celeste’s family was overwhelmed and devastated to hear details of the allegations against d4vd during his arraignment on Monday, their attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, told CNN.—
Andi Babineau,
CNN Money,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Flights to and from smaller California hubs such as Sacramento and Burbank have been canceled, while Air Canada and German airline Lufthansa slashed routes from their summer schedules earlier this month.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Governments slashed services and raised taxes to cover their massive new pension contributions.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The media flagged and flogged it for AI incompetence.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
25 Jan. 2026
-
To be publicly flogged for how much Pa permitted us to do — that felt grossly unfair.—
Meredith Kile,
PEOPLE,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
Marcus Smart grabbed the ball and fired a two-handed pass to James, who bobbled it and slapped it to Luke Kennard.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
In one of the more striking examples, retail traders stampeded into Allbirds after the troubled shoemaker slapped an artificial intelligence label on its business.—
Yun Li,
CNBC,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Scourged.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scourged. Accessed 27 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
