annihilation

American  

[uh-nahy-uh-ley-shuhn] / əˌnaɪ əˈleɪ ʃən /

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.

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annihilation British  

/ əˌnaɪəˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. total destruction

2. the act of annihilating

3. physics the destruction of a particle and its antiparticle when they collide. The annihilation of an electron with a positron generates two or, very rarely, three photons of annihilation radiation . The annihilation of a nucleon with its antiparticle generates several pions

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Etymology

Origin of annihilation

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

Explanation

Annihilation is the total destruction of something. In World War II, our nuclear bombs resulted in the annihilation of Hiroshima. If you spill milk on your textbooks, it won’t result in annihilation — this word is much more serious. After an annihilation, there's nothing left but total, horrific destruction, like a wild fire completely wiping out a forest or a tsunami sweeping away a seaside town. This word has an end-of-the-world feel to it: many religions have stories of annihilation of some sort, resulting in the end of everything.

Example Sentences

In 2022, during the last review of the treaty that is considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was "one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation."

From Barron's • Apr. 25, 2026

"What we're trying to point out in this paper is that you could have a different kind of environmental dependence, even if the annihilation probability is constant in the center of the galaxy," explains Krnjaic.

From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2026

How much can one film really change a world that seems like it’s careening faster and faster toward annihilation?

From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026

Relations between Washington and Moscow were starting to thaw, yet a staggering stockpile of almost 70,000 nuclear warheads meant the threat of annihilation lingered in the air.

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2026

At lower temperatures, however, when colliding particles have less energy, particle/antiparticle pairs would be produced less quickly—and annihilation would become faster than production.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Related Words

• decimation
• demolition
• destruction
• elimination
• eradication
• extermination
• extinction
• liquidation