annihilation
Complete and utter erasure
Annihilation is complete destruction—reducing something to nothing.
Nuclear weapons threaten mutual annihilation.
A species faces annihilation through extinction.
The word often describes overwhelming defeat: The team suffered total annihilation in the playoffs.
In physics, annihilation occurs when a particle meets its antiparticle and both convert entirely to energy.
Total destruction or erasure
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- demolitionDeliberate structural destruction
- ruinationState of complete destruction
- decimationNear-total destruction
eradication · extermination · pulverization · disintegration · shattering · razing · wreckage · dissolution
Complete erasure from memory
- nothingnessComplete absence of existence
- nonexistenceAbsence of being
- emptinessAbsence of substance
- vacuumAbsence of matter
abyss · negation · nullification · cessation · erasure · disappearance · absence · blank
Total civilizational collapse
- ArmageddonProphesied ultimate conflict
- doomsdayProphesied world's end
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
- nuclear holocaustMass extinction from atomic weapons
end times · world destruction · thermonuclear · mushroom cloud · fallout · mutually assured destruction · MAD · total war
Complete destruction of a group
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- eradicationTotal elimination of something
- species lossDisappearance of organism types
- mass extinctionLarge-scale species elimination
dodo · dinosaurs · passenger pigeon · ethnic cleansing · population collapse · wiping out · elimination · dying out
Overwhelming, decisive loss
- routOverwhelming one-sided victory
- humiliationLoss of dignity
- blowoutSudden tire failure
- landslideMass of earth falling
trouncing · shellacking · thrashing · domination · whitewash · massacre · slaughter · drubbing
Substance of antiparticles
- positronElectron's antimatter counterpart
- electronNegative subatomic particle
- gamma raysHighest-frequency electromagnetic radiation
- photonElectromagnetic radiation unit
Dirac · particle physics · CERN · subatomic · antiparticle · particle accelerator
obliteration
Total destruction or erasure
- devastationSevere widespread destruction
- demolitionDeliberate structural destruction
- ruinationState of complete destruction
decimation · eradication · extermination · pulverization · disintegration · shattering · razing · wreckage · dissolution · collapse
oblivion
Complete erasure from memory
- nothingnessComplete absence of existence
- nonexistenceAbsence of being
- emptinessAbsence of substance
vacuum · abyss · negation · nullification · cessation · erasure · disappearance · absence · blank · nullity
apocalypse
Total civilizational collapse
- ArmageddonProphesied ultimate conflict
- doomsdayProphesied world's end
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
nuclear holocaust · end times · world destruction · thermonuclear · mushroom cloud · fallout · mutually assured destruction · MAD · total war · Hiroshima
extermination
Complete destruction of a group
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- eradicationTotal elimination of something
- species lossDisappearance of organism types
mass extinction · dodo · dinosaurs · passenger pigeon · ethnic cleansing · population collapse · wiping out · elimination · dying out · Holocaust
crushing defeat
Overwhelming, decisive loss
- routOverwhelming one-sided victory
- humiliationLoss of dignity
- blowoutSudden tire failure
landslide · trouncing · shellacking · thrashing · domination · whitewash · massacre · slaughter · drubbing · demolition
antimatter
Substance of antiparticles
- positronElectron's antimatter counterpart
- electronNegative subatomic particle
- gamma raysHighest-frequency electromagnetic radiation
photon · Dirac · particle physics · CERN · subatomic · antiparticle · particle accelerator
- doomdoomsday, impending doom, doom and gloom, doomed, sense of doom
- physicsphysics, momentum, atom, acceleration, gravity
- disastersdisaster, earthquake, earthquakes, catastrophe, floods
- afterlifeheaven, hell, paradise, purgatory, limbo
- catastrophesdisasters, disaster, natural disasters, catastrophe, apocalypse
- dangersdanger, peril, hazard, risk, menace
annihilationcreation
Making something exist
genesis · generation · birth · origination · emergence
annihilationpreservation
Maintaining something's condition
conservation · protection · safeguarding · saving · maintenance
annihilationrestoration
Returning something to condition
reconstruction · rebuilding · regeneration · resurrection · renovation
- total annihilationComplete and utter destruction