annihilate

[ uh-nahy-uh-leyt ]

/ əˈnaɪ əˌleɪt /

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See synonyms for: annihilate / annihilated / annihilating / annihilative on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), an·ni·hi·lat·ed, an·ni·hi·lat·ing.

to reduce to utter ruin or nonexistence; destroy utterly: The heavy bombing almost annihilated the city.

to destroy the collective existence or main body of; wipe out: to annihilate an army.

to annul; make void: to annihilate a law.

to cancel the effect of; nullify.

to defeat completely; vanquish: Our basketball team annihilated the visiting team.

OTHER WORDS FOR annihilate

1 ravage, devastate, desolate.

1, 2 smash, obliterate, demolish.

See synonyms for annihilate on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of annihilate

1350–1400; Middle English adnichilat(e) destroyed <Late Latin annihilātus brought to nothing, annihilated (past participle of annihilāre) (Latin an-an-² + nihil nothing + -ātus-ate¹)

OTHER WORDS FROM annihilate

an·ni·hi·la·tive

[uh-nahy-uh-ley-tiv, ‐uh-luh‐], /əˈnaɪ əˌleɪ tɪv, ‐ə lə‐/, an·ni·hi·la·to·ry

[uh-nahy-uh-luh-tawr-ee, ‐tohr-ee], /əˈnaɪ ə ləˌtɔr i, ‐ˌtoʊr i/, adjectiveun·an·ni·hi·lat·ed, adjectiveun·an·ni·hi·la·tive, adjectiveun·an·ni·hi·la·to·ry, adjective

Words nearby annihilate

An Nhon, Annie, Annie Oakley, Annigoni, annihilable, annihilate, annihilation, annihilation radiation, annihilator, Anniston, anniv.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use annihilate in a sentence

The other portion would be to annihilate hunger shortly before going to sleep.
Locked up in the Land of Liberty: Part III|Yariel Valdés González|July 21, 2021|Washington Blade
The team knew that matter and antimatter annihilate each other when they meet.
Stars made of antimatter could lurk in our galaxy|Maria Temming|May 31, 2021|Science News For Students
These antistar candidates seem to give off the kind of gamma rays that are produced when antimatter — matter’s oppositely charged counterpart — meets normal matter and annihilates.
Stars made of antimatter could lurk in the Milky Way|Maria Temming|April 26, 2021|Science News
A woman with the self-possession to identify what she wants — and the nerve to go after it — was seemingly most easily understood as a function of derangement, annihilating narcissism or both.
Jessica Walter and George Segal personified a time when movies grew up|Ann Hornaday|March 26, 2021|Washington Post

She might be watching from 565 miles away, but she’s got a Sweet 16 to follow with hope, a son annihilating expectations and a No.
Buddy Boeheim thought he would just be a role player. His role now is Syracuse’s leading man.|Chuck Culpepper|March 25, 2021|Washington Post
The J in its name actually stands for Jian—annihilate, eliminate.
Beijing's New Stealth Jet: Made in China|Brendon Hong|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Thirty minutes alone with a man is enough for him to annihilate you,” she remarks, knowingly.
Meet The Former Call Girl Saving Hookers For Jesus|Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig|July 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Finally there was the atomic bomb (and the Cold War it created): machine threatened to annihilate all of mankind.
How ‘Her’ Gets the Future Right|Andrew Romano|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He then went on to compare us to Amalek, the Biblical nation that God commands the Jews to annihilate.
A Confession on the Ninth of Av|Samuel Lebens|July 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The consequences of the repeated failed attempts to annihilate Israel should and will be reflected in the final status.
Excitement Over Land Swaps Is Misplaced|Dani Dayan|May 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To pretend that God can be offended with the actions of men, is to annihilate all the ideas that are given to us of this being.
Superstition In All Ages (1732)|Jean Meslier
They are the spontaneous enemies of truth because they justly apprehend it will annihilate their pretensions.
Letters To Eugenia|Paul Henri Thiry Holbach
Does crossing the sea change or annihilate the churchmanship of the missionary, or the passenger, or the emigrant?
The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2|Egerton Ryerson
It compelled the foe to abandon Heilsberg, but it did not annihilate him or necessarily end the war.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte|William Milligan Sloane
The army he had hoped to annihilate was on its steady and orderly march for Richmond.
Four Years in Rebel Capitals|T. C. DeLeon

British Dictionary definitions for annihilate

annihilate

/ (əˈnaɪəˌleɪt) /

verb

(tr) to destroy completely; extinguish

(tr) informal to defeat totally, as in debate or argument

(intr) physics to undergo annihilation

Derived forms of annihilate

annihilable (əˈnaɪələbəl), adjectiveannihilative, adjectiveannihilator, noun

Word Origin for annihilate

C16: from Late Latin annihilāre to bring to nothing, from Latin nihil nothing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

annihilate

OTHER WORDS FOR annihilate

Origin of annihilate

OTHER WORDS FROM annihilate

Words nearby annihilate

Words related to annihilate

How to use annihilate in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for annihilate

Derived forms of annihilate

Word Origin for annihilate