destruction
Americannoun
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the act of destroying.
wanton destruction of a town.
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the condition of being destroyed; demolition; annihilation.
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a cause or means of destroying.
noun
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the act of destroying or state of being destroyed; demolition
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a cause of ruin or means of destroying
Synonym Usage
See ruin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of destruction
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Latin dēstructiōn- (stem of dēstructiō ), equivalent to dēstruct(us) (past participle of dēstruere; see destroy) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Destruction is damage so bad, things must be replaced, not fixed. Tornadoes often leave a trail of destruction, damaging neighborhoods and knocking down houses. The Latin word destructionem, "a pulling down," is the root of destruction. When destruction strikes, things do get pulled down — from houses in the case of natural disasters or a big display of canned soups in the case of a careless shopper. Sometimes, destruction refers to death, as when critics of war talk about the resulting destruction of human life.
Vocabulary lists containing destruction
Biodiversity and Humans - Middle School and High School
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Biodiversity and Humans - Introductory
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"Fire and Ice"
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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:
The official death toll from Venezuela's devastating twin earthquakes rose to nearly 4,500 on Sunday, as the government reported more than 19,500 people were now living in camps due to the destruction.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
The destruction that began in Perth in November has ended in a pile of rubble in July.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The Endangered Species Act is widely credited with saving the California condor, which almost went extinct in the 1980s due to several factors, including habitat destruction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
They found that the particles made tumor cells highly vulnerable to a form of self destruction while also transforming the tumor environment from an immune resistant "cold" state into an immune active "hot" state.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
As they neared the river, they saw total destruction below them.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
As Perry noted, pesticides are not alone in targeting sperm for destructions.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2023
Podolyak added that the barrage was “an undeniable manifestation” of Russia’s “terrorist activity, legally documented by numerous destructions and victims.”
From Washington Times ● Aug. 15, 2023
The story under that headline reported that Bankman-Fried’s entire fortune had been “wiped out” in “one of history’s greatest-ever destructions of wealth.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2022
So in terms of big satellite destructions, there’s only been a handful in the last 15 years.
From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2021
These indeed were full of grief and anger, seeing the streets of the city full of the enemy, and beholding new destructions every hour.
From Stories From Livy by Pinelli, Bartolomeo
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.
