decimate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to kill or destroy a great number or proportion of.
The population was decimated by a plague.
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to greatly reduce in number or amount.
From 1975-1981, our country was not driving the space exploration agenda, and our aerospace workforce was decimated.
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to cause to suffer great loss or harm.
The constant eruptions that spewed forth decimated the forest and turned it to ash.
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to select by lot and kill every tenth person of.
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Obsolete. to take a tenth of or from.
verb
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to destroy or kill a large proportion of
a plague decimated the population
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(esp in the ancient Roman army) to kill every tenth man of (a mutinous section)
Usage
One talks about the whole of something being decimated, not a part: disease decimated the population, not disease decimated most of the population
Other Word Forms
- decimation noun
- decimator noun
Etymology
Origin of decimate
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin decimātus, past participle of decimāre “to punish every tenth man chosen by lot,” verbal derivative of decimus “tenth,” derivative of decem “ten”; ten, -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They are decimated for a 10-year period before they could build it back,” referring to Iran’s nuclear program.
Defense Secretary Hegseth reported “decisive” progress in Operation Epic Fury, with air dominance and decimated Iranian naval forces.
From Barron's
The rapper’s overhaul of the dwelling saw it reduced to little more than a concrete shell, decimating almost all of Ando’s original design — and leaving design lovers up in arms over its destruction.
From MarketWatch
Another day, stocks fell broadly, seemingly in response to a viral Substack post that painted a dark future in which AI decimated white-collar knowledge work.
Investors have also been piling into bond markets on fears that AI advances will decimate the job market, while hotter-than-expected producer prices have clouded hopes for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
