devastation
AmericanEtymology
Origin of devastation
1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin dēvastātiōn- (stem of dēvastātiō ), equivalent to Latin dēvastāt ( us ) ( devastate ) + -iōn- -ion
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.
Plaza later broke her silence about her struggle to deal with her grief, telling fellow comedian Amy Poehler that her devastation felt like a “giant ocean of awfulness.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026
Witnesses testified about the devastation caused by a nationwide downturn in television and film production that has hit California particularly hard.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026
As “Alpha” reaches its stylish, dreamlike ending, she hits upon an absorbing final image that suggests the collective sorrow and emotional devastation our recent plague years have wrought.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
The devastation was stunning: government ministries, banks and towering office blocks stood blackened and burned.
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2026
The next day, Kansas City AP bureau chief Ed Stanley inserted the phrase “the dust bowl” into a wire service account of the devastation, and a new term entered the American lexicon.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
