destroy
Americanverb (used with object)
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destroys,
present (3rd person singular)
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destroyed,
past participle, past
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destroying
present participle
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to reduce (an object) to useless fragments, a useless form, or remains, as by rending, burning, or dissolving; injure beyond repair or renewal; demolish; ruin; annihilate.
- Antonyms:
- create
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to put an end to; extinguish.
- Synonyms:
- uproot, annihilate, extirpate
- Antonyms:
- create
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to kill; slay.
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to render ineffective or useless; nullify; neutralize; invalidate.
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to defeat completely.
verb (used without object)
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destroys,
present (3rd person singular)
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destroyed,
past participle, past
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destroying
present participle
verb
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to ruin; spoil; render useless
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to tear down or demolish; break up; raze
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to put an end to; do away with; extinguish
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to kill or annihilate
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to crush, subdue, or defeat
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(intr) to be destructive or cause destruction
Synonym Usage
Destroy, demolish, raze imply reducing a thing to uselessness. To destroy is to reduce something to nothingness or to take away its powers and functions so that restoration is impossible: Fire destroys a building. Disease destroys tissues. To demolish is to destroy something organized or structured: to demolish a machine. To raze is to level down to the ground: to raze a fortress.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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predestroyverb (used with object)
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destroyableadjective
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half-destroyedadjective
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self-destroyedadjective
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self-destroyingadjective
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undestroyedadjective
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well-destroyedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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destroysimple
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destroyssimple
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have destroyedperfect
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has destroyedperfect
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am destroyingprogressive
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are destroyingprogressive
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is destroyingprogressive
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have been destroyingperfect progressive
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has been destroyingperfect progressive
Past
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destroyedsimple
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had destroyedperfect
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was destroyingprogressive
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were destroyingprogressive
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had been destroyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of destroy
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, from Vulgar Latin dēstrūgere (unattested), for Latin dēstruere ( dē- de- + struere “to pick up, build”)
Explanation
When your little brother breaks your carefully constructed Lego village into its tiny parts, he destroys it. To destroy is to completely demolish. To destroy is the opposite of to construct or to build. When you destroy something, you cause destruction, when you build something, you are involved in its construction. In war, soldiers are sometimes sent on missions to search and destroy. This means their job is to find a target and completely take it out. Destroy doesn't have to be physical though. If you get an F in your math class, that could destroy your dream of going to an Ivy League university and too much criticism can destroy your self-esteem.
Vocabulary lists containing destroy
Beowulf vocabulary
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"Frankenstein"
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Workshop 2, Part 1
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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:
“In the worst-case scenario they destroy capital,” he said, while in the best case, the neoclouds will be “cyclical leasing companies.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
The time police must wait before being able to destroy a seized vehicle has been reduced from 14 to seven days, making it harder for offenders to reclaim and reuse them.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
“In order to build something nice, first you have to destroy something ugly,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Environmentalists also say river bank fortifications destroy shallow-water zones where aquatic life and insects breed -- and the adjoining natural floodplains that act like sponges at times of excess water.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
Before advancing through Belgium, the Germans had to attack and destroy the powerful network of forts around the city of Liege, just inside the Belgian border.
From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman
It destroys the ties that bind and encourages anger and petulance.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
That’s because if the deal goes through it stands a good chance to fail — failure in this case meaning that the combined company destroys more shareholder value than it creates.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Destinus, which specializes in strike and air-defense systems, will lead the consortium and bear responsibility for the kill vehicle, the component that destroys ballistic missiles in space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Another type of immune cell, known as T cells, then seeks out and destroys cells carrying those proteins.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
Babulya had quoted part of the Talmud to Anya on Shabbat: “Whoever destroys a single life has destroyed the entire world.”
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
A federal judge ruled last year that the material in books bought by Anthropic and destroyed was fair use under copyright law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
Nineteen homes across five streets in the town were completely destroyed by the fire last week, with eight households left able to view the shells of their former homes.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
They then disrupted or destroyed that electronic pattern and watched to see how the two waves returned.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
In the last decade, worsening wildfires in California have burned about 14 million acres and destroyed more than 60,000 homes and structures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
If the bear could not be destroyed, all this would be lost.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
A rock band named Demon Hunter sued Netflix for allegedly destroying its brand with the release of “KPop Demon Hunters.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
There is at least one semi-recent example of the government destroying a business as punishment for corruption.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026
The January 2025 wildfires that swept through Pacific Palisades wreaked devastation practically beyond belief, destroying more than 5,600 homes and businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
A child and three firefighters were among those taken to hospital as several fires raged across the West Midlands, destroying homes and forcing dozens of residents to evacuate from their houses.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
I would continue to manage my upper-lip hair, and do my best not to constantly run my finger over the tiny patch of hair that was destroying my will to live.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
