decimate
Americanverb (used with object)
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decimates,
present (3rd person singular)
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decimated,
past participle, past
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decimating
present participle
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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.
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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decimatesimple
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decimatessimple
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have decimatedperfect
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has decimatedperfect
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am decimatingprogressive
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are decimatingprogressive
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is decimatingprogressive
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have been decimatingperfect progressive
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has been decimatingperfect progressive
Past
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decimatedsimple
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had decimatedperfect
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was decimatingprogressive
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were decimatingprogressive
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had been decimatingperfect progressive
Future
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”; see ten, -ate 1
Explanation
If something is drastically reduced or killed, especially in number, you can say it was decimated. "The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico decimated the wildlife along the coast." The verb decimate originally referred to a form of capital punishment for Roman troops. If there was a rebellion, one out of every ten men (thus the dec in decimate) was put to death. So the word's first expanded usage was to mean a ten percent reduction or a ten percent tax. Modern usage gives the word decimate its "drastically reduced" meaning, but the verb can also be used to mean "to wipe out" or "to eliminate."
Vocabulary lists containing decimate
Super Bowl Blowout: Epic Vocab for the Big Game
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Perfect Ten: Dec, Cent, Mille
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This Week in Words: September 25 - October 1, 2017
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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.
See Examples For:
Opponents warn the proposal would decimate funding for essential services and reduce local government fiscal autonomy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
He also called concerns that AI will decimate jobs worldwide "complete nonsense".
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Software stocks dropped on Friday after digital-payments company Block announced it is slashing more than 4,000 employees — further fueling fears that artificial intelligence could decimate employee head counts and hurt demand for software.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
At worst, biomass projects can decimate forests and release their stored carbon into the atmosphere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
Where authorities disagree, I’ve tried to weigh the best evidence and make decisions that reflect what thoughtful, literate people consider good English. decimate.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
Snaring decimates wildlife populations and has pushed many larger mammals to local or even global extinction.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2024
“We can eradicate this insidious disease that decimates communities and extinguishes lives far too soon.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
Of the 10 current members, Colorado is the only school the Pac-12 can lose in the realignment game without triggering either mass panic or a rush to the door that decimates the league.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 27, 2023
He marries, has children and watches helplessly as the plague decimates his family.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
They also procured, with much difficulty and at a high price, a quantity of lemons, for preventing or curing the scurvy, that terrible disease which decimates crews in the icy regions.
From A Winter Amid the Ice and Other Thrilling Stories by Jules Verne
I did, I tell him, but I’m worried we’re not too far off from a decimated world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
This deadly strain of bird flu has already decimated wild bird and mammal populations worldwide.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Bigger chicken breeds and flocks not being decimated by disease over the summer have led to a glut in an industry that slaughters more than nine billion birds a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Kilbane added: "To a county decimated with emigration for centuries but always having a love for home. This one is for its people."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Several were felled before Jess Squirrel and Winifred, along with some crack otter slingers, sent down a barrage so swift and accurate that it decimated the ferrets within minutes.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
"He was very good at just decimating your ability to make your own decisions and have your own autonomy. And it made you more and more dependent on him," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Following a string of already tumultuous years, restaurants in Boyle Heights watch the skies for signs of hope during a weeklong warehouse fire that’s decimating business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Decades of offshoring affected the American apparel industry, decimating the profession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
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 ● Dec. 11, 2025
Smallpox, measles, influenza, typhus, bubonic plague, and other infectious diseases endemic in Europe played a decisive role in European conquests, by decimating many peoples on other continents.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
