as in to ruin
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
it's amazing how a raging sea can wrack a seemingly sturdy beachfront home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 wrack
Still, the advance notice could help a tenant avoid wracking up a legal history, which can make finding another apartment difficult.
—
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026
Local officials began wracking their brains for future uses for the sprawling, 53-acre site, which includes older buildings, and some that hold historic designations.
—Sacbee.com, 30 Dec. 2025
For decades, Mindanao has been wracked by unrest and conflict, including clashes between authorities and a local separatist movement with widespread allegations of human rights abuses from all parties.
—Jinky Jorgio, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
After weeks of captivating blind auditions, nerve-wracking eliminations and the high-stakes playoffs round, each coach selected one artist from their team to advance to the finale.
—Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wrack
Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 4 Jan. 2026
Local officials began wracking their brains for future uses for the sprawling, 53-acre site, which includes older buildings, and some that hold historic designations.
—Sacbee.com, 30 Dec. 2025
For decades, Mindanao has been wracked by unrest and conflict, including clashes between authorities and a local separatist movement with widespread allegations of human rights abuses from all parties.
—Jinky Jorgio, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
After weeks of captivating blind auditions, nerve-wracking eliminations and the high-stakes playoffs round, each coach selected one artist from their team to advance to the finale.
—Jordana Comiter, PEOPLE, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for wrack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrack
Verb
-
However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
1 Feb. 2026
-
To say much more would be to ruin the wild twists and turns that unfold as the night marches onward.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
But when a man from Anne’s past returns from war, a curse begins to take shape through a mysterious knight and threatens to destroy them all.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Plenty of plants were destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires, of course, especially highly flammable shrubs like tall, skinny arborvitae.—
Jeanette Marantos,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Lanni was sitting nearby at Sei Less when LaForte wrecked the witness’ table.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The barber chair, the locus of Sweeney’s revenge on the heartless cruelty of a Victorian London that wrecked his life, isn’t the elaborate contraption of other productions.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The synthetic opioid is far more potent than heroin and has devastated communities across the country.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
6 Feb. 2026
-
In Kristin Dwyer's In Time With You (out March 3 from Wednesday Books), that's the conundrum facing Nieve Monroe, who's devastated after her boyfriend Carter dies saving her from drowning.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
But her plans were shattered when a family member called her and said Nancy was missing.—
Amanda Musa,
CNN Money,
4 Feb. 2026
-
When several landmasses collided to form the supercontinent Pangea long before the dinosaurs, Earth’s crust shattered into discrete blocks and folded like a rug pushed against a wall, rising to form mountains spanning from the Appalachians to the Atlas.—
Evan Howell,
Scientific American,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The World Food Program said in an earlier statement that its warehouse was demolished by Somali authorities.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
30 Jan. 2026
-
The building will be demolished to make way for an 86-unit affordable housing development, according to board documents.—
Kate Armanini,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
An agent pepper sprayed him, smashed his window and dragged him out of the car, according to his account.—
Jude Joffe-Block,
NPR,
31 Jan. 2026
-
By smashing together heavy atoms of lead traveling at near-light speeds using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists can create a high-energy environment that briefly frees gluons and quarks from this atomic bondage, recreating the quark-gluon plasma of the early universe.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wrack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrack. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
