devastate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to lay waste; render desolate.
The invaders devastated the city.
-
to overwhelm, as with grief or dismay: Those rumors appeared to have devastated her.
We are devastated by this news and deeply saddened by the unexpected loss of our friend.
Those rumors appeared to have devastated her.
verb
-
to lay waste or make desolate; ravage; destroy
-
to confound or overwhelm, as with grief or shock
Related Words
See ravage.
Other Word Forms
- devastation noun
- devastative adjective
- devastator noun
Etymology
Origin of devastate
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin dēvastātus “laid waste” (past participle of dēvastāre ), equivalent to dē- + vast(āre) “to lay waste” (akin to vastus “empty”) + -ātus; de-, waste ( def. ), -ate 1
Explanation
If a storm devastates your town, it comes pretty close to destroying it. To devastate is to cause destruction to or overwhelm. Really bad news can devastate a person, or leave them devastated. They are so upset, they feel crushed. A basketball team can devastate an opponent by running roughshod over their defense. The root of the word is the Latin vastare which means to lay waste, which comes from vastus meaning desolate or empty. Imagine a city laid waste after a major earthquake and you've got the picture!
Vocabulary lists containing devastate
List 5
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Divergent
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Tears of a Tiger
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A cutoff of exports would devastate U.S. industries.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026
Healthcare alone can devastate even carefully planned budgets.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 3, 2026
If a manager genuinely believed AI was going to devastate their software book, they could simply stop making new software loans.
From Barron's • Feb. 24, 2026
What they uncovered would both shock and devastate Tyrone's family, who described his death as "horrific" and recalled Tyrone as being a "cuddly little baby bear".
From BBC • Jan. 31, 2026
But he had no way of knowing that Soviet commanders in Cuba also had dozens of short-range nuclear weapons—tactical weapons, designed to devastate enemies on the battlefield.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
