ravage
Americanverb (used with object)
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ravages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ravaged,
past participle, past
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ravaging
present participle
verb (used without object)
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ravages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ravaged,
past participle, past
-
ravaging
present participle
noun
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havoc; ruinous damage.
the ravages of war.
-
devastating or destructive action.
- Synonyms:
- desolation, waste, ruin
- Antonyms:
- creation
verb
noun
Synonym Usage
Ravage, devastate, lay waste all refer, in their literal application, to the wholesale destruction of a countryside by an invading army (or something comparable). Lay waste has remained the closest to the original meaning of destruction of land: The invading army laid waste the towns along the coast. But ravage and devastate are used in reference to other types of violent destruction and may also have a purely figurative application. Ravage is often used of the results of epidemics: The Black Plague ravaged 14th-century Europe; and even of the effect of disease or suffering on the human countenance: a face ravaged by despair. Devastate, in addition to its concrete meaning ( vast areas devastated by bombs ), may be used figuratively: a devastating remark.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ravagesimple
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ravagessimple
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have ravagedperfect
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has ravagedperfect
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am ravagingprogressive
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are ravagingprogressive
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is ravagingprogressive
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have been ravagingperfect progressive
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has been ravagingperfect progressive
Past
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ravagedsimple
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had ravagedperfect
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was ravagingprogressive
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were ravagingprogressive
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had been ravagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ravage
First recorded in 1605–15; from French, Middle French, equivalent to rav(ir) “to snatch away, ravish” + -age -age ( def. ); see ravish
Explanation
The word ravage can be used as a noun or a verb meaning destruction or to destroy. In a war, bombs and the attacking army will ravage the country under siege. When ravage is used as a noun, you usually see it in the plural. Beware of the ravages of drugs on your body and your life. The city has almost been destroyed by the ravages of poverty and disaster. Often you see it paired with the word, time, to describe how things fall apart as they age. The ravages of time may be apparent in the lined faces and hunched postures of your grandparents.
Vocabulary lists containing ravage
The Declaration of Independence
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"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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A Long Way Gone
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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:
Now we’re told artificial intelligence will ravage humanity like a zombie apocalypse, so let’s ban data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
The Citrini selloff latched onto the market’s recent paranoia that artificial intelligence could ravage established players in a range of industries.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
“Christian forgiveness does not demand we allow the cruel to ravage the whole earth; it demands we love our enemies,” he said.
From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2025
Then, in 2013, a mysterious disease linked to a marine heat wave began to ravage the population.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2025
What springs into my mind are those news reports about tornadoes or fires, how they’ll ravage one house but leave the one next door intact.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
They have found one of the healthiest, most diverse reefs in the region, free from the ravages of the stoney coral disease plaguing the Caribbean.
From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026
“The arduous reparation from the ravages of the pandemic are all but complete, with the shares now having exceeded the record highs achieved in 2018,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
The mayor of Suakin dreams of a rebirth for his town, an ancient Red Sea port spared by the wars that have marked Sudan's history but reduced to ruins by the ravages of time.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
A worried mother working miles away from her family frantically tries to get her three children out of harm’s way as an out of control fire ravages their community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025
Time had some- what repaired the ravages of hunger and I was able to meet the required physical weight.
From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright
The High Fens blaze broke out for reasons still unknown in an area that was ravaged by massive fires in 1911, during a similar period of heatwaves.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
The High Fens blaze broke out in an area that was ravaged by massive fires in 1911, during a similar period of heatwaves.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
It creaked past his shelter, past the collapsed buildings and ravaged orchards towards the west, away from the Yellow Line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Their discovery comes after a forest fire ravaged the Gironde area, which has now been brought under control after burning for about 10 days.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
There’s a photograph of their mother on the front page, ravaged by loss.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Tens of thousands of emigrants from Ireland, desperate to escape the famine ravaging their home country, landed in 1847 at the Grosse Île quarantine station in what is now the Canadian province of Quebec.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Spain's King Felipe VI, visiting a shelter for evacuees, said the wildfires ravaging the countryside around Madrid and other areas had caused "incalculable" damage to the nation's natural heritage.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
The front page also carries a photograph of aerial firefighting in southern France, noting that wildfires are ravaging a "sweltering Europe" as the first part of the UK declares drought.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Even worse, the people ravaging the sport don’t even have the decency to pretend to like bowling.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
“So the giant pursued your father, ravaging whole kingdoms to find him while he hid like a coward?”
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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.
