DESOLATING Synonyms: 161 Similar and Opposite Words

desolating

verb

present participle of desolate

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of totally desolated the city with aerial bombs

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for desolating

Verb

Sign up for the newsletter When the rain does fall, Kabul’s hard, impermeable surfaces mean the water doesn’t replenish aquifers, but instead sweeps through the city as flash floods, destroying homes, killing people and rolling away.

— Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Space debris is generated not only by kinetic space weapons but also when satellites collide and get smashed into countless fragments and smaller particles that travel at high velocity and are capable of destroying or damaging more spacecraft.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of destroying

Verb

The region has already been saturated by heavy rain over the past months, and regions like New Mexico and Grand Canyon were hit by devastating floods earlier this month.

— Megan Janetsky, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
Military force has imposed enormous costs on both Hamas and Iran, devastating their military facilities and killing their commanders.

— NADIA SCHADLOW, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of devastating

Verb

But recent Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s oil refineries have led to widespread fuel shortages, shattering the illusion that the consequences of the conflict are far removed from ordinary Russians.

— Zahra Ullah, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
My oven is never going to get that same shattering all-over crunch.

— Maggie Meyer Glisan, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of shattering

Verb

As wet electrodes get thicker, the liquid binder migrates unevenly during drying, ruining the battery‘s structure.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Sep. 2026
Seaver also allegedly threatened to start a podcast dedicated to ruining Parton’s image unless he was paid.

— Allison DeGrushe, StyleCaster, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of ruining

Verb

This is not the first time a coach in LAUSD has gotten into trouble trying to improve a facility, with the district issuing disciplinary action and demolishing the improvement because it was not authorized.

— Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026
On Thursday, the judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days' notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of demolishing

Verb

Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick crossed the line while wrecking after Larson hit the wall trying to chase down Briscoe on the final turn.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Her first job as CEO in 2014 was to remake the century-old company’s corporate culture and regain customers’ trust following a tragic, reputation-wrecking ignition-switch crisis.

— Alyson Shontell, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of wrecking

Verb

David Hearn, the former Olympics canoeist accused of damaging Washington's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before prosecutors dropped the case, cannot be recharged, a judge has ruled.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Oct. 2026
Meanwhile, on the charging case, iFixit struggled to access its components without damaging the external plastic.

— Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of damaging

Verb

But of the leaders of those three mega-bands, perhaps the most mysterious remains Pete Townshend, The Who’s songwriter and enigmatic eminence, thrashing chords and smashing guitars while Roger Daltrey handled lead vocals.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 3 Oct. 2026
How would Flock stop someone from smashing a car window in the dead of night on a street where no camera is watching?

— Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of smashing

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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desolates

desolating

desolation

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“Desolating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desolating. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of desolating

verb

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