Synonyms of devastating

devastating 1 of 2

adjective

ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ 

as in disastrous

causing or tending to cause destruction

a devastating blow to our morale

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disastrous
• destructive
• devastative
• deadly
• lethal
• ruinous
• fatal
• calamitous
• poisonous
• annihilatory
• fell
• murderous
• cataclysmal
• killer
• harmful
• detrimental
• virulent
• deleterious
• pernicious
• antibiotic
• vital
• mortal
• baleful
• deathly
• biocidal
• pestilent

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protective
• nondestructive
• constructive
• creative
• productive
• useful
• harmless
• formative
• helpful
• innocuous
• innocent
• healthy
• preservative
• healthful
• wholesome
• inoffensive
• ameliorative
• nonfatal
• salubrious
• nonlethal

devastating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of devastate

1

as in ravaging

to bring destruction to (something) through violent action

the city was devastated, first by the earthquake and then by fires

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ravaging
• destroying
• ruining
• shattering
• wrecking
• scourging
• overwhelming
• plundering
• sacking
• obliterating
• eradicating
• stripping
• desolating
• looting
• decimating
• despoiling
• marauding
• annihilating
• vaporizing
• pillaging
• wiping out
• extinguishing
• extirpating
• demolishing
• wracking
• smashing
• harrying
• wasting
• expunging
• totaling
• overpowering
• mowing
• crushing
• razing
• nuking
• overrunning
• foraying
• overthrowing
• rubbing out

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• recovering
• restoring
• rehabilitating
• repairing
• fixing
• redeeming
• reconditioning
• mending
• patching
• revamping

2

as in destroying

to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of

the explosion devastated an entire city block

Synonyms & Similar Words

• destroying
• shattering
• ruining
• demolishing
• wrecking
• damaging
• smashing
• overcoming
• crippling
• wasting
• decimating
• ravaging
• annihilating
• pulverizing
• eroding
• extinguishing
• desolating
• vaporizing
• tearing down
• crushing
• wracking
• totaling
• razing
• marring
• pulling down
• killing
• doing in
• rubbing out
• defeating
• dismantling
• blasting
• creaming
• breaking
• nuking
• disfiguring
• deteriorating
• removing
• disintegrating
• impairing
• spoiling
• subduing
• prevailing (over)
• harming
• injuring
• winning (against)
• conquering
• trimming
• mastering
• surmounting
• mutilating
• clobbering
• whipping
• thrashing
• routing
• wearing (away)
• undoing
• licking
• sweeping (away)
• dynamiting
• mangling
• triumphing (over)
• walloping
• eradicating
• dissolving
• besting
• obliterating
• overmatching
• beating
• vitiating
• gutting
• blowing up
• drubbing
• overbearing
• defacing
• scouring
• sacking
• washing out
• slaughtering
• trouncing
• wiping out
• extirpating
• plundering
• taking down
• exterminating
• looting
• liquidating
• trampling
• disassembling
• stamping (out)
• murdering
• cutting down
• dilapidating
• expunging
• slaying
• assassinating
• despoiling
• blotting out
• executing
• scotching
• skunking
• rooting (out)
• dispatching
• pillaging
• massacring
• vandalizing
• effacing
• killing off
• felling
• mowing (down)
• trashing
• butchering
• snuffing (out)
• unmaking
• taking out
• zapping
• unbuilding
• havocking

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• building
• constructing
• creating
• raising
• repairing
• rearing
• setting up
• fixing
• erecting
• producing
• making
• shaping
• putting up
• manufacturing
• forming
• forging
• inventing
• framing
• assembling
• protecting
• establishing
• organizing
• saving
• patching
• bringing about
• reconditioning
• revamping
• constituting
• fashioning
• molding
• mending
• fabricating
• preserving
• rebuilding
• doctoring
• founding
• instituting
• reconstructing
• restoring
• remodeling
• conserving
• fathering
• renovating

3

as in overwhelming

to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress

we were devastated by the awful news of his death

Synonyms & Similar Words

• overwhelming
• overcoming
• crushing
• overpowering
• disturbing
• grinding (down)
• oppressing
• swamping
• overmastering
• rocking
• drowning
• upsetting
• flooring
• shattering
• whelming
• prostrating
• distressing
• defeating
• snowing under
• sinking
• staggering
• unnerving
• demoralizing
• refuting
• throwing
• deluging
• confuting
• unmanning
• breaking

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of devastating

Adjective

That followed fast on a New York Film Festival screening last weekend and a Special Jury Prize at its Venice world premiere last month with a record 25-minute standing ovation for the doc many have called devastating. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026

Margaret Kran-Annexstein, director of the Sierra Club’s Colorado chapter, said that devastating flooding hit the state in 2013, causing damage worth nearly $4 billion. — Callie Patteson, The Washington Examiner, 1 Oct. 2026

Verb

At least one person remains missing and two are dead following devastating flash floods in the Grand Canyon over the weekend. — Michael Loria, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

Rescue crews and foreign specialists are racing to find scores of workers feared trapped alive inside hydropower tunnels in Nepal, after thick mud buried the facilities during last week’s devastating flash floods. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 31 Aug. 2026