definitions

devastate

[ dev-uh-steyt ]
/ ˈdɛv əˌsteɪt /
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verb (used with object), dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing.

to lay waste; render desolate: The invaders devastated the city.
to overwhelm.

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RELATED WORDS

ruin, raze, ravage, wreck, smash, desolate, raid, level, pillage, trash, sack, despoil, plunder, devour, spoil, total, waste, desecrate, depredate, spoliate

Nearby words

devaluation, devaluationist, devalue, devanagari, devascularization, devastate, devastating, devastation, devein, devel., develop

Origin of devastate

1625–35; < Latin dēvastātus laid waste (past participle of dēvastāre), equivalent to dē- de- + vast(āre) to lay waste (akin to vastus empty) + -ātus -ate1

Related forms

dev·as·ta·tive, adjectivedev·as·ta·tor, nounun·dev·as·tat·ed, adjective

Synonym study

1. See ravage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for devastate

British Dictionary definitions for devastate

devastate

/ (ˈdɛvəˌsteɪt) /

verb (tr)

to lay waste or make desolate; ravage; destroy
to confound or overwhelm, as with grief or shock

Derived Forms

devastation, noundevastative, adjectivedevastator, noun

Word Origin for devastate

C17: from Latin dēvastāre, from de- + vastāre to ravage; related to vastus waste, empty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012