ravage
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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:
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
The Antonine Plague, perhaps a form of smallpox, had begun to ravage the empire, as it would for more than a decade.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
As people worldwide watched wildfires ravage neighborhoods around Los Angeles County in January, some found comfort in the story of Weinraub’s little engine that could.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
“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
She fought against it as though there were demons in her trying to claw their way out and ravage the world.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
If young Americans serving in uniform during World War II were unaware of how Marshall approached general officer accountability, they certainly felt war’s ravages up close and personal.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
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
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
This ravaged warscape hadn’t much changed when I returned a year later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Flooding—which ravaged coastal towns and my basement over the weekend—is also more frequent, in part because warmer water helps strengthen storms.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
The lack of water has ravaged grasslands and left ranchers unable to grow enough hay, forcing them to buy feed for their cows at high prices.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
The state government says a toxic algal bloom that has ravaged the state's coastline for more than 18 months may be to blame for the sharp decline.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
She had no idea the torment that ravaged me inside, even though I was stretched out, quiet and still, on the living-room couch, Tilly on the floor beside me.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
The ravaging of the museum reflects the destruction seen across Khartoum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
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
Fame is a bedfellow of the newer, more modern American dream, which promises not only contentment, but success, as a reward for ambition, ravaging the lifestyles of millions of people in the process.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
The wildfires currently ravaging Europe feel close to home for Professor Marta Yebra, despite being on the other side of the world.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
After a second Opium War, the Tientsin Treaties legalized the ravaging opium trade, legalized a British-French-American control of China’s customs.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
