Synonyms for devastate
Most common
Definitions
- v. 1
To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.
Related words
- Word family
- devastated devastating devastation devastavit
Forms
- Past participle
- devastated
e.g. devastated → ravaged, destroyed, desolated, ruined…
Example sentences
- destroy Do you really think it will destroy my reputation?
- obliterate It's time to obliterate those walls of yours!
- uproot Powerful winds on Earth can uproot trees, toss over cars, and destroy houses.
- decimate Our team will decimate yours on the field tomorrow.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| devastate | rising | |
| destroy | steady | |
| obliterate | steady | |
| uproot | rising | |
| ravage | rising | |
| decimate | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- ruin2, sack1, nuke1, raze1
- 5 letters
- waste1, harry2, strip1, spoil1, havoc2
- 6 letters
- devour3, ravage2, uproot2
- 7 letters
- destroy2, consume2, scourge1, plunder2, subvert2, pillage2, despoil
- 8 letters
- desolate3, demolish3, decimate3
- 10 letters
- obliterate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (ruin2 = 2 syllables).