annihilation

[uh-nahy-uh-ley-shuhn]

noun

1. an act or instance of annihilating, or of completely destroying or defeating someone or something.

   the brutal annihilation of millions of people.

2. the state of being annihilated; total destruction; extinction.

   fear of nuclear annihilation.

3. Physics.

   1. Also called pair annihilation. the process in which a particle and antiparticle unite, annihilate each other, and produce one or more photons.

   2. the conversion of rest mass into energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of annihilation¹

First recorded in 1630–40; from French or directly from Late Latin annihilātiōn- (stem of annihilātiō ); annihilate, -ion

Example Sentences

That annihilation was followed by games against Celtic and Hearts, currently the top two in the league, and for those Martin changed his system for the first time in his entire managerial career.

From BBC

In a 2022 episode of the podcast “Your Weirdest Fears,” Northwestern University professor David Tolchinsky peeled the transgressive nature of eyeball horror down to a basic dread of annihilation.

From Salon

On Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had warned Hamas leaders living abroad that they faced "annihilation" and Gaza would be destroyed if the group did not release its hostages and lay down its arms.

From BBC

Then there’s the matter of the “Today Show” interview, which was conducted by Matt Lauer just years before his own cultural annihilation.

From Salon

What, after all, could it mean to commemorate such a moment in a world where today not one, but nine nuclear-armed states hold humanity hostage to the threat of sudden, total annihilation?

From Salon

Related Words

• decimation 
• demolition 
• destruction 
• elimination 
• eradication 
• extermination www.thesaurus.com
• extinction 
• liquidation