decimated

American  

[des-uh-mey-tid] / ˈdɛs əˌmeɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. greatly reduced in number or amount, or having suffered great loss or harm.

   The nonprofit agency has been struggling with a decimated staff and limited resources.

   After the massive earthquake, the only way to reach the decimated villages was by helicopter.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of decimate.

Etymology

Origin of decimated

decimate ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The talks are the latest diplomatic bid to halt the fighting which has killed hundreds of thousands, forced millions to flee and decimated much of eastern and southern Ukraine.

From Barron's

“It’s bad enough our community was decimated by a fire Edison started,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

But perhaps its most heartbreaking application was when Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band played at the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival since Hurricane Katrina decimated the city and the region.

From Salon

Cuba has been going through its worst crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union, primarily because of decades of economic mismanagement, made worse by the Covid epidemic, which decimated its tourism industry.

From The Wall Street Journal

The conflict is Europe's deadliest since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed, millions forced to flee their homes and much of eastern and southern Ukraine left decimated.

From Barron's

Related Words

• annihilate
• exterminate
• obliterate
• slaughter
• wipe out