destroy
Americanverb (used with object)
-
destroys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
destroyed,
past participle, past
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destroying
present participle
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to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.
- Antonyms:
- create
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to put an end to; extinguish.
- Synonyms:
- uproot, annihilate, extirpate
- Antonyms:
- create
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to kill; slay.
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to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.
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to defeat completely.
verb (used without object)
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destroys,
present (3rd person singular)
-
destroyed,
past participle, past
-
destroying
present participle
verb
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to ruin; spoil; render useless
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to tear down or demolish; break up; raze
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to put an end to; do away with; extinguish
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to kill or annihilate
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to crush, subdue, or defeat
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(intr) to be destructive or cause destruction
Synonym Usage
Destroy, demolish, raze imply reducing a thing to uselessness. To destroy is to reduce something to nothingness or to take away its powers and functions so that restoration is impossible: Fire destroys a building. Disease destroys tissues. To demolish is to destroy something organized or structured: to demolish a machine. To raze is to level down to the ground: to raze a fortress.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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predestroyverb (used with object)
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destroyableadjective
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half-destroyedadjective
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self-destroyedadjective
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self-destroyingadjective
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undestroyedadjective
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well-destroyedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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destroysimple
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destroyssimple
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have destroyedperfect
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has destroyedperfect
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am destroyingprogressive
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are destroyingprogressive
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is destroyingprogressive
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have been destroyingperfect progressive
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has been destroyingperfect progressive
Past
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destroyedsimple
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had destroyedperfect
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was destroyingprogressive
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were destroyingprogressive
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had been destroyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of destroy
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin dēstrūgere (unattested), for Latin dēstruere ( dē- de- + struere “to pick up, build”)
Explanation
When your little brother breaks your carefully constructed Lego village into its tiny parts, he destroys it. To destroy is to completely demolish. To destroy is the opposite of to construct or to build. When you destroy something, you cause destruction, when you build something, you are involved in its construction. In war, soldiers are sometimes sent on missions to search and destroy. This means their job is to find a target and completely take it out. Destroy doesn't have to be physical though. If you get an F in your math class, that could destroy your dream of going to an Ivy League university and too much criticism can destroy your self-esteem.
Vocabulary lists containing destroy
Beowulf vocabulary
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"Frankenstein"
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Workshop 2, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Foodies and farmers railed against the settlement, saying the park’s new plan would destroy the food scene in west Marin County and kneecap the already struggling agrarian community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
"None of our data acquisition programs buy and destroy rare or antiquarian books," they added.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
And everyone says, “Ooh, yummy Ottolenghi,” and everybody goes home and does the same thing next time and it’s all a huge conspiracy to destroy people’s ability to cook.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
Her Butterfly is no pathetic victim—having chosen Pinkerton, America and modernity, she finally accepts that they will destroy her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Baboons could destroy her entire food store in a matter of minutes.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
It destroys the ties that bind and encourages anger and petulance.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
"Climate change is what kills, what destroys our villages and our natural and cultural heritage," civil protection chief Virginia Barcones told Spanish radio.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
That’s because if the deal goes through it stands a good chance to fail — failure in this case meaning that the combined company destroys more shareholder value than it creates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Destinus, which specializes in strike and air-defense systems, will lead the consortium and bear responsibility for the kill vehicle, the component that destroys ballistic missiles in space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
This is because the very act of measuring destroys some of the information we are trying to gather.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The store’s electrical system was destroyed, according to OnScene TV.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
“Like the thousands of people who have reached out since this tragedy to share their own experiences, he believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life,” his lawyer said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Nineteen properties across five streets have been fully destroyed with another 18 severely damaged.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said the storms and flooding have destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure, and caused power outages for hundreds of thousands of residents at their peak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
“I am afraid the tornado destroyed much of the farm, including the milking parlor.”
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
The January 2025 wildfires that swept through Pacific Palisades wreaked devastation practically beyond belief, destroying more than 5,600 homes and businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Around 2,000 had been evacuated from nearby villages as the fire ripped through the surrounding hills, damaging homes and destroying cars in the early hours.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
A child and three firefighters were among those taken to hospital as several fires raged across the West Midlands, destroying homes and forcing dozens of residents to evacuate from their houses.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Monday, destroying 153 buildings and damaging many others across several provinces along the country’s western mountain range.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Didn’t know what he meant at first, as I thought I’d done a dead brilliant job of destroying it myself.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
