1
as in ravaged
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action
the city was devastated, first by the earthquake and then by fires
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ruined
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
the explosion devastated an entire city block
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in overwhelmed
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress
we were devastated by the awful news of his death
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in destroyed
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of devastated
Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
Brandon Bell/Getty Images But none of this prepared us for one of the most devastated areas, the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.
—Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Sarah Alegre, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025
The Long Walk takes place in an alternate America in what looks like the ’60s or ’70s, one that’s been battered and economically devastated by an internal conflict.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastated
Verb
His parting vision of her funeral pyre both recalls and anticipates the devastated city of Carthage, sacked by Rome.
—Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
Brandon Bell/Getty Images But none of this prepared us for one of the most devastated areas, the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.
—Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
The disaster is remembered not just for its winds, but for the crushing surge of water that devastated rural Louisiana parishes and tore through the heart of New Orleans.
—Sarah Alegre, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025
The Long Walk takes place in an alternate America in what looks like the ’60s or ’70s, one that’s been battered and economically devastated by an internal conflict.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastated
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devastated
Verb
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The latest aftershocks follow two earthquakes that ravaged a nation already crushed by war, poverty and shrinking aid.—
Mohammad Yunus Yawar,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
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City officials hired a company to knock down the brick behemoth months after a late-night fire ravaged the building in June 2024, but what to do with the city real estate has remained unclear.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Alternatively, a star being ripped apart in TDE could produce a day-long GRB, but this scenario fails to replicate other properties of the GRB 250702B, an explosion that would require a very unusual star being destroyed by an even stranger black hole.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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Hadid was commissioned to design it for a fire brigade on the Vitra Campus after a major 1981 fire destroyed most of the complex, which originally consisted of factory buildings but is now a collection of contemporary design and architecture showrooms.—
Mae Hamilton,
AFAR Media,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Many companies and industries are clearly overwhelmed by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence—with a recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology paper suggesting that 95% of generative AI pilot programs had failed among the dozens of companies the researchers surveyed.—
Giacomo Tognini,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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In my debut novel, Little Movements, the protagonist, Layla, is overwhelmed by these truths when she’s selected to be the choreographer-in-residence at a prestigious arts institution in rural Vermont.—
Lauren Morrow
September 9,
Literary Hub,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
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When faced with Cherry going berserk, what can Laura do but visit Cherry’s mother and learn that Cherry nearly killed her dad and ruined an ex-boyfriend’s wedding by filling his cake with raw pig parts?—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
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Our family has been ruined by Denise's lies of promising to end a year-long affair.—
Stephanie Wenger,
PEOPLE,
9 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The wrecked streetcar is colored yellow and white and was named the Elevador da Gloria.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Sep. 2025
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He was found in Laughry Creek near the wrecked SUV and was dressed in only his underwear, the prosecutor said.—
Quinlan Bentley,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
18 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In the aftermath, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko recorded a video message from the building’s shattered upper floors.—
Katya Soldak,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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Photos of the aftermath showed the front windshield on the roof of the bus shattered and nearly flattened.—
Michael Rios,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Additionally, several existing dilapidated buildings on the site will be demolished and their concrete recycled and partly reused to realize the new structures.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Sep. 2025
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Archaeologists believe that Ayscough's house was demolished after a fire destroyed it in the early 1800s – but its remains have only just been uncovered in new excavations.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Diseased or damaged branches can be removed anytime.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
5 Sep. 2025
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Know how to avoid injury from debris, contaminated water, carbon monoxide poisoning, electrocution, and damaged buildings and infrastructure.—
Staff reports,
AZCentral.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Devastated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devastated. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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