devastate

D2E1V4A1S1T1A1T1E1
Canada, UK, US/ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/Australia/ˈdev.ə.stæɪt/

verb

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.

Similar
decimatedestroyrazeruinlay waste towastedesolateravage
OriginLatin dēvastātus →
UncommonScrabble 13
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Word of the Day · Mar 8, 2026

Meanings

verbdevastate (third-person singular simple present devastates, present participle devastating, simple past and past participle devastated)

present singular third person devastates · participle present devastating · participle past devastated · past devastated

  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.

    Halifax in Canada was devastated by a ship exploding in 1917. SS Mont Blanc, a French vessel loaded with 2.9 kilotons of explosives, collided with the Imo.

    2022 August 24, Bruce Healey, “Wartime tunnel crash: a miraculous escape”, in RAIL, number 964, page 53
  2. To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
  3. To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless remains (if any) and starting over.
  4. To greatly demoralize, to cause to suffer intense grief or dismay

Synonyms & antonyms

to lay waste

Similar
decimate
Similar
destroyrazeruin

verbcause extensive destruction or ruin utterly

Similar
lay waste towastedesolateravagescourge
Broader
destroyruin
Also see
abateconsumecrippledefacedesolatedestroydevourdisperseeliminateeradicateextinguishextirpatefuckharryinjurelay wastenukeobliterateraceravageravelrazeruinscourgesubvertuprootwaste

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latindēvastātus
  2. Englishdevastate

Borrowed from Latin dēvastātus, perfect passive participle of dēvastō (“to lay waste, devastate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)); from dē- (augmentative prefix) + vastō (“to destroy, lay waste”). See vast. First attested in 1638.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek λυμαίνομαι, ἐρημόω
  • λυμαίνομαι (lumaínomai)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • ἐρημόω (erēmóō)to ruin many or all things over a large area
Bulgarian опустошавам
  • опустошавам (opustošavam)to ruin many or all things over a large area
Catalan devastar
  • devastarto ruin many or all things over a large area
Chinese Mandarin 摧毀 /摧毁, 破壞 /破坏
  • 摧毀 /摧毁 (cuīhuǐ)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • 破壞 /破坏 (pòhuài)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • 蹂躪 /蹂躏 (róulìn)to ruin many or all things over a large area
Danish ødelægge
  • ødelæggeto ruin many or all things over a large area
Finnish tehdä tuhoa (suurta), hävittää
  • tehdä tuhoa (suurta)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • hävittääto ruin many or all things over a large area
  • tuhotato ruin many or all things over a large area
  • mullistaato ruin many or all things over a large area
French dévaster
  • dévasterto ruin many or all things over a large area
German verwüsten, verheeren
  • verwüstento ruin many or all things over a large area
  • verheerento ruin many or all things over a large area
Hungarian elpusztít
  • elpusztítto ruin many or all things over a large area
Irish slad
  • sladto ruin many or all things over a large area
Italian devastare
  • devastareto ruin many or all things over a large area
Japanese 破壊する
  • 破壊する (hakai suru)to ruin many or all things over a large area
Latin vastō, dēvastō
  • vastōto ruin many or all things over a large area
  • dēvastōto ruin many or all things over a large area
  • populorto ruin many or all things over a large area
Norwegian Bokmål ødelegge
  • ødeleggeto ruin many or all things over a large area
Polish dewastować, zdewastować
  • dewastowaćto ruin many or all things over a large area
  • zdewastowaćto ruin many or all things over a large area
Portuguese devastar
  • devastarto ruin many or all things over a large area
Romanian devasta
  • devastato ruin many or all things over a large area
Russian опустоша́ть, опустоши́ть
  • опустоша́ть (opustošátʹ)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • опустоши́ть (opustošítʹ)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • разоря́ть (razorjátʹ)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • разори́ть (razorítʹ)to ruin many or all things over a large area
Spanish devastar
  • devastarto ruin many or all things over a large area
Swedish ödelägga
  • ödeläggato ruin many or all things over a large area
Ukrainian спусто́шувати, спусто́шити
  • спусто́шувати (spustóšuvaty)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • спусто́шити (spustóšyty)to ruin many or all things over a large area
  • пусто́шити (pustóšyty)to ruin many or all things over a large area
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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