annihilate

A1N1N1I1H4I1L1A1T1E1
UK/əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/

verb

To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.

“An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city.”

Similar
benothingdestroyeradicateextinguisheliminatewipe outdecimatecarry off
Opposite
creategenerate
OriginLatin annihilātus →
UncommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

verbannihilate (third-person singular simple present annihilates, present participle annihilating, simple past and past participle annihilated)

present singular third person annihilates · participle present annihilating · participle past annihilated · past annihilated

  1. To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.

    An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city.

    1 more example

    But eagerness in this case, as in most others, annihilated its own delight; down came the tottering height, while the disappointed builder found relief for his sorrow in anger—sorrow's best remedy after all.

    1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 237

    Synonyms: benothing, destroy, eradicate, extinguish

  2. particlenatural sciencesTo react with antimatter, producing gamma radiation and (for higher-mass reactants, especially composite particles such as protons) lighter particles (such as pions, muons, and neutrinos).
  3. archaicTo treat as worthless, to vilify.

    of all the opinions which Antiquity hath had of men in gross, those which I most willingly embrace, and whereon I take most hold, are such as most vilifie, condemne, and annihilate us.

    1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
  4. transitiveTo render null and void; to abrogate.

    The official Soviet criticism of 'bourgeois philosophy' took for granted that the latter in its various forms was a repetition of the idealist nonsense of Mach and Avenarius, which had been annihilated by Lenin's refutation.

    1978 [1976], Leszek Kołakowski, translated by P[aul] S[teven] Falla, Main Currents of Marxism, volume II: The Golden Age, Oxford: Clarendon Press, translation of Główne nurty marksizmu: rozwój (in Polish), →ISBN, →OCLC, page 458
  5. mathematicsTo cause to become zero by means of an annihilator operator.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.

Similar
benothingdestroyeradicateextinguish

antonym(s) of “to reduce to nothing”

Opposite
creategenerate

More synonyms by meaning

verbkill in large numbers

Similar
eliminateextinguisheradicatewipe outdecimatecarry off
Broader
kill
Also see
abateabrogateassassinateatomizebaptizecancelcarry offconsumecrippledashdecimatedesolatedestroydispersedodo induppyeliminateeradicateexexterminateextinguishextirpatefuckgreaseharryiron outjazzkillknock offlay wasteliquidatemortifynukeobliteratepop offraceravageravelrazerub outruinshut upslaysnuff outstop someone's clocksubverttaketopuprootwaxwipe out

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinannihilātus
  2. Englishannihilate

Borrowed from Latin annihilātus, perfect passive participle of annihilō (“to reduce to nothing”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also an-.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic أَفْنَى
  • أَفْنَى (ʔafnā)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Bulgarian унищожавам, изтребвам
  • унищожавам (uništožavam)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • изтребвам (iztrebvam)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • анихилирам (anihiliram)(physics) to react with antimatter
Catalan anihilar, aniquilar
  • anihilarto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • aniquilarto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • anul·lar(mathematics) to cause to become zero
Chinese Mandarin 殲滅 /歼灭, 毁灭
  • 殲滅 /歼灭 (jiānmiè)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • 毁灭 (huǐmiè)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • 湮灭 (yan mie)(physics) to react with antimatter
Czech vyhladit
  • vyhladitto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Danish annihilere, tilintetgøre
  • annihilereto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • tilintetgøreto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Dutch vernietigen
  • vernietigento reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Esperanto neniigi
  • neniigito reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Finnish hävittää, annihiloitua
  • hävittääto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • annihiloitua(physics) to react with antimatter
French annihiler, anéantir
  • annihilerto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • anéantirto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • réduire à néantto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • annihiler(mathematics) to cause to become zero
German vernichten
  • vernichtento reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Greek εκμηδενίζω
  • εκμηδενίζω (ekmidenízo)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Hebrew הִשְׁמִיד, חִסֵּל
  • הִשְׁמִיד (hishmíd)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • חִסֵּל (khisél)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Hungarian megsemmisít
  • megsemmisítto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Icelandic tortíma
  • tortímato reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Italian annichilire, annientare
  • annichilireto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • annientareto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Japanese 撲滅する, 殲滅する
  • 撲滅する (bokumetsu suru)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • 殲滅する (semmetsu suru)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • 根絶する (konzetsu suru)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • 根刮ぎにする (nekosogi ni suru)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • 絶滅させる (zetsumetsu saseru)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Latin annihilō, dēleō
  • annihilōto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • dēleōto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Māori urupatu, whakamōtī
  • urupatuto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • whakamōtīto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Norwegian Bokmål tilintetgjøre, annihilere
  • tilintetgjøreto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • annihilereto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • annihilere(physics) to react with antimatter
Persian نابود کردن, از بین بردن
  • نابود کردن (nâbud kardan)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • از بین بردن (az beyn bordan)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Polish unicestwiać, unicestwić
  • unicestwiaćto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • unicestwićto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • anihilowaćto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • anihilować(physics) to react with antimatter
Portuguese aniquilar, aniquilar
  • aniquilarto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • aniquilar(physics) to react with antimatter
  • anular(mathematics) to cause to become zero
Romanian anihila
  • anihilato reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Russian уничтожа́ть, уничто́жить
  • уничтожа́ть (uničtožátʹ)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • уничто́жить (uničtóžitʹ)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • истребля́ть (istrebljátʹ)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • истреби́ть (istrebítʹ)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • аннигилировать (annigilirovatʹ)(physics) to react with antimatter
Spanish aniquilar, anihilar
  • aniquilarto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • anihilarto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Swedish tillintetgöra, förinta
  • tillintetgörato reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • förintato reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • förgörato reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • utplånato reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Thai กวาดล้าง, ทำลาย
  • กวาดล้าง (gwàat-láang)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • ทำลาย (tam-laai)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • ทำลายล้าง (tam-laai-láang)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • ถอนรากถอนโคน (tɔ̌ɔn-râak-tɔ̌ɔn-koon)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • ประลัย (bprà-lai)(physics) to react with antimatter
Turkish mahvetmek, yok etmek
  • mahvetmekto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • yok etmekto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Ukrainian зни́щувати, зни́щити
  • зни́щувати (znýščuvaty)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • зни́щити (znýščyty)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Welsh diddymu, difodi
  • diddymuto reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
  • difodito reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Yiddish פֿאַרטיליקן
  • פֿאַרטיליקן (fartilikn)to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate
Cite this entry
APA

annihilate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annihilate

MLA

“annihilate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annihilate. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “annihilate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annihilate.

Source: annihilate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.