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
- devastatingly adverb
- undevastating adjective
- undevastatingly adverb
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.
It also pointed to the devastating effects on the ecosystem of having massive machines churn up the soil of old-growth forests.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
It's devastating to think that we have lost him at such a young age, and that I can never give him a hug again.
From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026
County residents have faced several disasters and crises — destabilizing immigration raids and devastating wildfires — on top of some of the world’s highest housing costs.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
One staff member who contacted BBC news NI called the news "devastating."
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
He trusted her to carry the awful aegis, his buckler, and his devastating weapon, the thunderbolt.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
