devastated

[dev-uh-stey-tid]

adjective

1. laid waste; made desolate.

   After the earthquake there were concerns about asbestos in the rubble of many of the devastated houses.

2. overwhelmed or shocked, especially by profound loss, disappointment, humiliation, etc..

   I’m grateful that no one I knew personally died in the hurricane, but my heart goes out to all those devastated families.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of devastate.

Other Word Forms

• undevastated adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of devastated¹

devastate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Jon Brown, whose family lived at the devastated Pacific Palisades Bowl mobile home park, had his own view.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

On Wednesday evening, the taoiseach apologised to party ministers, TDs and senators and said he was "devastated" by Gavin's withdrawal from the race.

Read more on BBC

In her years living in the Corona area, she said she’d never heard of this kind of theft and was devastated someone took her decoration.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"It's been very upsetting for us all. We're absolutely devastated," said Mr Richardson.

Read more on BBC

"It really devastated and shocked me," he says.

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Related Words

• broken 
• demolished www.thesaurus.com
• lost 
• ravaged 
• ruined www.thesaurus.com
• shattered 
• smashed 
• wrecked