ravage

[rav-ij]

verb (used with object)

ravaged, ravaging 

1. to work havoc upon; damage or mar by ruinous or destructive action.

   a face ravaged by grief.

   Synonyms: sack, pillage, plunder, despoil, ruin
   Antonyms: repair, build

verb (used without object)

ravaged, ravaging 

1. to work havoc; do ruinous damage.

noun

1. havoc; ruinous damage.

   the ravages of war.

2. devastating or destructive action.

   Synonyms: desolation, waste, ruin
   Antonyms: creation

ravage

/ ˈrævɪdʒ /

verb

1. to cause extensive damage to

noun

1. (often plural) destructive action

   the ravages of time

Other Word Forms

• ravager noun
• ravagement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ravage¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from French, Middle French, equivalent to rav(ir) “to snatch away, ravish” + -age -age ( def. ); ravish

Word History and Origins

Origin of ravage¹

C17: from French, from Old French ravir to snatch away, _ravish

Synonym Study

Ravage, devastate, lay waste all refer, in their literal application, to the wholesale destruction of a countryside by an invading army (or something comparable). Lay waste has remained the closest to the original meaning of destruction of land: The invading army laid waste the towns along the coast. But ravage and devastate are used in reference to other types of violent destruction and may also have a purely figurative application. Ravage is often used of the results of epidemics: The Black Plague ravaged 14th-century Europe; and even of the effect of disease or suffering on the human countenance: a face ravaged by despair. Devastate, in addition to its concrete meaning ( vast areas devastated by bombs ), may be used figuratively: a devastating remark.

Example Sentences

More than five years after retiring as one of TV’s most recognizable and distinctive personalities, he has transitioned to riffing on weathering the ravages of aging.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Next came the bears, breaking into Clark’s cottage multiple times, ravaging cabinets and the refrigerator; it has since been bear-proofed.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In his cratered and ravaged mien we see the impress of time, yet also dignity and fortitude.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Chargers, ravaged by injuries, effectively leaned on their reserves to help pave the way for their first victory in three weeks.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One gradually destroys memory and cognition, while the other ravages the body through uncontrolled cell growth.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• consume 
• damage 
• demolish 
• devastate 
• disrupt 
• gut 
• impair 
• overrun 
• overwhelm 
• pillage 
• plunder 
• raze 
• ruin 
• shatter 
• sweep away www.thesaurus.com
• wreck