devastating
adjective
dev·as·tat·ing
ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ 
1
: causing great damage or harm
a devastating flood/earthquake
a devastating injury
A devastating coastal tsunami could also result from a severe displacement of the San Andreas Fault.—
Gary Sandquist
Gary Sandquist2
: causing extreme emotional pain
a devastating loss
Even the most banal domestic melodramas, readers come to understand, are experienced as devastating tragedies by children living them for the first time.—Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly3
: extremely effective or powerful
a devastating satire
He had a devastating wit and an utter contempt for shoddy work in physics.—Jeremy Bernstein
Jeremy Bernstein
devastatingly
adverb
Some people recover readily from the infection, but in others it becomes disseminated, spreading rapidly and devastatingly from lungs to bones, skin and nervous system
—Lawrence Galton
Lawrence Galton
Postcards from the Edge is a devastatingly savvy, bitingly funny, yet sad movie based on Carrie Fisher's autobiographical novel about Hollywood.
—Jeffrey Lyons
Jeffrey Lyons
… is portrayed as a devastatingly effective power broker in the Senate.
—Alan Brinkley
Alan Brinkley
Synonyms
Examples of devastating in a Sentence
a devastating blow to our morale
Recent Examples on the Web
Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines are among the countries most acutely affected, with triple-digit temperatures prompting school closures and contributing to devastating crop loss.
—Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024
Tóibín handles these uncertainties and moral conundrums with exquisite delicacy, zigzagging back and forth through time to build to a devastating climax.
—Heller McAlpin, NPR, 7 May 2024
For more than 30 years, Alzheimer’s researchers have thought of APOE4 as a major genetic risk factor for most cases of the devastating neurologic disease.
—Jonathan Wosen, STAT, 6 May 2024
The law comes after devastating wildfires swept through Maui last year, which intensified the need for housing.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 6 May 2024
It’s been almost a year since the devastating wildfire ripped through the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, killing at least 99 people, and destroying most of the Maui town.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 6 May 2024
Steward has been one focus of a year-and-a-half-long CBS News investigation revealing how private equity investors have siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from community hospitals with devastating public health consequences.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 6 May 2024
In 2006, a student at a Mexican boarding school developed devastating leg pain and had trouble walking; soon hundreds of classmates were afflicted.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024
That's because cheap Chinese EVs could be devastating to a key sector of the U.S. economy: auto manufacturing.
—Camila Domonoske, NPR, 6 May 2024
Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 8 May 2024
Tóibín handles these uncertainties and moral conundrums with exquisite delicacy, zigzagging back and forth through time to build to a devastating climax.
—Heller McAlpin, NPR, 7 May 2024
For more than 30 years, Alzheimer’s researchers have thought of APOE4 as a major genetic risk factor for most cases of the devastating neurologic disease.
—Jonathan Wosen, STAT, 6 May 2024
The law comes after devastating wildfires swept through Maui last year, which intensified the need for housing.
—Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 6 May 2024
It’s been almost a year since the devastating wildfire ripped through the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, killing at least 99 people, and destroying most of the Maui town.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 6 May 2024
Steward has been one focus of a year-and-a-half-long CBS News investigation revealing how private equity investors have siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars from community hospitals with devastating public health consequences.
—Matt Schooley, CBS News, 6 May 2024
In 2006, a student at a Mexican boarding school developed devastating leg pain and had trouble walking; soon hundreds of classmates were afflicted.
—Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 6 May 2024
That's because cheap Chinese EVs could be devastating to a key sector of the U.S. economy: auto manufacturing.
—Camila Domonoske, NPR, 6 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'devastating.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Devastating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devastating. Accessed 10 May. 2024.
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