- present participle of devastate.
devastating
Americanadjective
-
tending or threatening to devastate.
a devastating fire.
-
satirical, ironic, or caustic in an effective way.
a devastating portrayal of society.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of devastating
First recorded in 1625–35; devastat(e) + -ing 2
Explanation
Something that's shocking and distressing is devastating. Watching the local ice cream shop burn to the ground would be devastating to many neighborhood kids. Incredibly destructive events like earthquakes are devastating, although anything that's tragic, even on a personal level, can also be devastating. It's also used informally to mean incredibly affecting or impressive, like a photographer's devastating images of urban poverty. This meaning came into use in the late 1800s — before that, devastating came right from the Latin word devastare, "to lay waste completely."
Vocabulary lists containing devastating
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Hatchet
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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.
I’ve started deploying it in my everyday life: This rest stop coffee isn’t quality; This devastating WSJ series about youth sports by Harriet Ryan is quality; Tadej Pogacar pedaling the Alps is quality.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 29, 2026
A country club in the town of Caraballeda in Venezuela has been turned into a makeshift hospital, with survivors of the country's devastating earthquakes receiving care and sleeping on mattresses on the grass.
From BBC • Jun. 28, 2026
The Po River has never fallen this low so early in the year, raising fears of a devastating drought in July in this corner of northern Italy.
From Barron's • Jun. 27, 2026
This type of alert was in place in Los Angeles when the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires ignited last year.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
On March 1, 1926, White and the prosecution received a devastating setback.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
