wrack

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

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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 The search for answers grew more desperate after Payne, wracked with grief and hounded by reporters, died by suicide near the very spot where Mary’s body had been found. Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025 The recent discovery of what was initially thought to be an explosive device on a body brought to Indianapolis for examination could indicate more trouble at a neighboring county's coroner office already wracked by recent upheaval. Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 3 Oct. 2025 In a nation wracked by violence, some people became perpetrators, and others victims. Literary Hub, 29 Sep. 2025 Cristina Jaimez, the 60-year-old who lost her kidney medication, said that in the days after the sweep her body swelled and she had been wracked with pain. Blake Nelson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for wrack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wrack
Verb
  • Drummond's proposals to the court to sharply limit litter's use as fertilizer would amount to a ban on the practice in the river's watershed; this and the cost of removing all litter from the watershed would ruin poultry growers throughout the region, defendants argue.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2025
  • In the end, the explorers destroyed themselves and their ships and ruined the lives of so many indigenous people after setting up colonies in places like Tierra del Fuego.
    Charlie Markbreiter, Them., 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the largest ever built, was destroyed.
    Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Russian air defense systems destroyed one drone heading for Moscow, the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
    Laura Sharman, CNN Money, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • In 1816 the stratosphere was saturated with Tambora’s dust, and sea ice nearly wrecked Scoresby’s ship off the eastern coast of Greenland.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
  • That history came to an end after wrecking crews tore down the wing’s two stories of offices and reception rooms last week.
    Darlene Superville, Denver Post, 26 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Then, heat waves in 2024 devastated some northern colonies that had demonstrated more resilience.
    Evan Bush, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2025
  • This happened when Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina last year.
    Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Viewers are dropped into the aftermath of an unnamed personal conflict and must work out over the course of the runtime the stakes of the situation, a highwire act handled deftly by the actors whose tender performances provide the emotional impact of the film’s shattering final sequence.
    Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
  • The case of Mamulya, a donkey whose hoof was shattered, apparently in a mine explosion, becomes central to the story, emblematic of the assistance the sanctuary receives from within and beyond Ukraine’s borders in order to provide state-of-the-art medical treatments.
    Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • More recently, high-profile firms including Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Lockheed Martin and Meta Platforms have agreed to help finance the ballroom Trump plans for the White House after ordering the building’s East Wing to be demolished.
    Bill Barrow, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
  • To build the new housing, Arrow Street Development plans to demolish about a half-dozen buildings including multiple old single-family homes and commercial structures.
    Jordan Smith, IndyStar, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • The solar wind smashes into the leading edge of Earth’s magnetosphere with supersonic speed, creating a shockwave that can come closer than one hundred thousand kilometers to the planet’s illuminated side.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Oct. 2025
  • From there, two of the thieves slinked up the ladder to smash a window that leads to the Galerie d’Apollon on the museum’s second floor.
    Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 27 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Wrack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wrack. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.

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