Meanings
eradicate1
present singular third person eradicates · participle present eradicating · participle past eradicated · past eradicated
- transitiveTo destroy completely; to reduce to nothing radically; to put an end to.
Near-synonyms: delete, erase
5 more examples
Smallpox was globally eradicated in 1980.
I would like to know if there are any true moralists who would like to correspond with someone who just instinctively feels there's something wrong somewhere in this unbenevolent world and wants to save it by culminating love and eradicating the captive emotions of the self (Ego).
1986 April 26, Tony Marcus Antuan Haywood, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 18Thus far, virtually every cinematic attempt to convey the outrages of South African life under apartheid has been diminished by its own good intentions and by a grim sameness that eradicates any element of surprise.
1989 September 20, Janet Maslin, “Review/Film; Sutherland Catches On To Apartheid Slowly”, in The New York TimesShe put a banner for the One Campaign, an effort to eradicate poverty in the third world led by U2's singer Bono, on her LJ […]
2007, Anastasia Goodstein, Totally WiredThe germinal matrix in this area is then eradicated either by surgical or chemical matrixectomy using phenol or NaOH.
2016, Roba Khundkar, Silva Samantha De, Rajat Chowdury, Consent in Surgery: A Practical Guide, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 89Synonyms: annihilate, eliminate, exterminate, extirpate, destroy, annihilate, aerosolize, atomize · Antonyms: encourage, foster, introduce, protect, radicate
eradicate2
- obsoleteparticipleeradicated
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo destroy completely; to reduce to nothing radically; to put an end to.
More synonyms by meaning
verbdestroy completely, as if down to the roots
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
eradicate · verb
- Latinērādīcātus
- Middle Englisheradicaten“to eradicate”
- Englisheradicate
PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English eradicaten (“to eradicate”), from eradicat(e) (“eradicated”, past participle of eradicaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin ērādīcātus, the perfect passive participle of ērādīcō (“to uproot, root out; to anihilate, eradicate”), from ē- (“out”) + rādīx (“root”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also radish.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →eradicate · verb
- Middle Englisheradicat(e)“eradicated”
- Englisheradicate
From Middle English eradicat(e) (“eradicated”, past participle of eradicaten), used up until Early Modern English, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian изкоренявам, унищожавам
- изкоренявам (izkorenjavam)to pull up by the roots
- унищожавам (uništožavam)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Catalan eradicar, erradicar
- eradicarto pull up by the roots
- erradicarto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Chinese Mandarin 連根拔起 /连根拔起, 根除
- 連根拔起 /连根拔起 (liángēnbáqǐ)to pull up by the roots
- 根除 (gēnchú)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Czech vymýtit
- vymýtitto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Dutch ontwortelen, met wortel en al uitroeien
- ontwortelento pull up by the roots
- met wortel en al uitroeiento completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Esperanto elradikigi, ekstermi
- elradikigito pull up by the roots
- ekstermito completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Estonian juurima
- juurimato pull up by the roots
Finnish juuria, tuhota
- juuriato pull up by the roots
- tuhotato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- hävittääto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
French déraciner, éradiquer
- déracinerto pull up by the roots
- éradiquerto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
German mit der Wurzel ausreißen, ausrotten
- mit der Wurzel ausreißento pull up by the roots
- ausrottento completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- ausmerzento completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- auslöschento completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- vernichtento completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Greek ξεριζώνω, εκριζώνω
- ξεριζώνω (xerizóno)to pull up by the roots
- εκριζώνω (ekrizóno)to pull up by the roots
- αφανίζω (afanízo)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- εξαλείφω (exaleífo)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Hebrew חיסל
- חיסל (khisél)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Hindi उखाड़ना, उन्मूलन
- उखाड़ना (ukhāṛnā)to pull up by the roots
- उन्मूलन (unmūlan)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Italian eradicare, sradicare
- eradicareto pull up by the roots
- sradicareto pull up by the roots
- sradicareto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Japanese 根から抜く, 根絶する
- 根から抜く (ne kara nuku)to pull up by the roots
- 根絶する (konzetsu suru)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- 根刮ぎにする (nekosogi ni suru)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Māori haepapa, hoepapa
- haepapato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- hoepapato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- whakamōtīto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- urupatuto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Persian ریشهکن کردن, از بین بردن
- ریشهکن کردن (riše-kan kardan)to pull up by the roots
- از بین بردن (az beyn bordan)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- نابود کردن (nâbud kardan)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Polish wykorzenić, wytępić
- wykorzenićto pull up by the roots
- wytępićto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Portuguese erradicar, desenraizar
- erradicarto pull up by the roots
- desenraizarto pull up by the roots
- erradicarto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- exterminarto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Romanian dezrădăcina, eradica
- dezrădăcinato pull up by the roots
- eradicato pull up by the roots
- eliminato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- stârpito completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- extirpato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Russian выкорчёвывать, вы́корчевать
- выкорчёвывать (vykorčóvyvatʹ)to pull up by the roots
- вы́корчевать (výkorčevatʹ)to pull up by the roots
- искореня́ть (iskorenjátʹ)to pull up by the roots
- искорени́ть (iskorenítʹ)to pull up by the roots
- уничтожа́ть (uničtožátʹ)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- уничто́жить (uničtóžitʹ)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- истребля́ть (istrebljátʹ)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- истреби́ть (istrebítʹ)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- пресекать на корню (presekatʹ na kornju)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- пресечь на корню (presečʹ na kornju)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Spanish erradicar, descuajar
- erradicarto pull up by the roots
- descuajarto pull up by the roots
Swedish utrota, tillintetgöra
- utrotato pull up by the roots
- tillintetgörato pull up by the roots
- dra upp med rötternato pull up by the roots
- utrotato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- tillintetgörato completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Thai ถอนราก, ถอนรากถอนโคน
- ถอนราก (tŏn râak)to pull up by the roots
- ถอนรากถอนโคน (tɔ̌ɔn-râak-tɔ̌ɔn-koon)to pull up by the roots
- ถอนรากถอนโคน (tɔ̌ɔn-râak-tɔ̌ɔn-koon)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- ทำลายให้สิ้น (tam laai hâi sîn)to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Turkish eradike etmek, kökünü kurutmak
- eradike etmekto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- kökünü kurutmakto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Vietnamese nhổ, triệt hạ
- nhổto pull up by the roots
- triệt hạto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- xóa sạchto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
- trừ tiệtto completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically
Cite this entry
eradicate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eradicate
“eradicate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eradicate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “eradicate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eradicate.
Source: eradicate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.