Synonyms for devour
Most common
destroy annihilate waste overwhelm gobble swallow eat away at demolish
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Destroy — to absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner
destroy, annihilate, waste, overwhelm, devastate, ravage, desolate, exhaust
2. Gobble — to eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously
3. Eat — synonym of eat, to be very good at something; to slay
eat away at, eat slang, go hard slang
4. Demolish
Definitions
- v. 1
To eat quickly, greedily, hungrily, or ravenously.
- v. 2
To absorb or engross the mind fully, especially in a destructive manner.
After the death of his wife, he was devoured by grief.
- v. 3
Synonym of eat: to be very good at something; to slay.
She devoured! She left no crumbs!
- v. 4
To rapidly destroy, engulf, or lay waste.
The fire was devouring the building.
Related words
- Word family
- devourer
Forms
- Past participle
- devoured
e.g. devoured → destroyed, annihilated, wasted, overwhelmed…
Example sentences
- destroy Do you really think it will destroy my reputation?
- overwhelm Do you find first dates enjoyable or do they overwhelm you?
- annihilate We shall annihilate anyone who stands in our way!
- devastate The flood waters will devastate the nearby town.
- swallow Mary wanted the ground to open up and swallow her.
- gobble Don't gobble all the food up before I get back.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| devour | rising | |
| destroy | steady | |
| overwhelm | rising | |
| annihilate | rising | |
| devastate | rising | |
| swallow | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- eat1, pig1
- 4 letters
- down1, wolf1
- 5 letters
- waste1, raven2, gorge1
- 6 letters
- absorb2, gobble2, ravage2, guttle
- 7 letters
- destroy2, swallow2, consume2, exhaust2, engorge
- 8 letters
- desolate3, demolish3
- 9 letters
- overwhelm3, devastate3
- 10 letters
- annihilate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (raven2 = 2 syllables).