devastates
Lays utterly waste
Devastates is the third-person singular of devastate, meaning to cause severe damage or destruction.
A hurricane devastates coastal towns.
The word extends to emotional ruin: bad news devastates a family, a scandal devastates a career.
What devastates doesn't merely harm—it overwhelms, leaving little intact.
Destroys completely
- annihilatesDestroys utterly and completely
- demolishesTears down completely
- wrecksDestroys completely
- ruinsDecayed structural remains
ravages · razes · decimates · levels · flattens · pulverizes · shatters · dismantles
Breaks into fragments
traumatizes · wounds · scars · heartbreaks · anguishes · grieves · pains · torments
Sudden ruinous event
- calamitySevere misfortune or disaster
- hurricaneViolent tropical windstorm
- earthquakeSeismic ground movement
- tsunamiSeismic sea surge
tornado · pandemic · famine · flood · wildfire · plague · epidemic · drought
obliterates
Destroys completely
- annihilatesDestroys utterly and completely
- demolishesTears down completely
- wrecksDestroys completely
ruins · ravages · razes · decimates · levels · flattens · pulverizes · shatters · dismantles · lays waste
shatters
Breaks into fragments
wrecks · traumatizes · wounds · scars · heartbreaks · anguishes · grieves · pains · torments · haunts
disaster
Sudden ruinous event
- calamitySevere misfortune or disaster
- hurricaneViolent tropical windstorm
- earthquakeSeismic ground movement
tsunami · tornado · pandemic · famine · flood · wildfire · plague · epidemic · drought · cyclone
stuns
Overwhelms with shock
blindsides · floors · appalls · horrifies · rattles · unnerves · unsettles · dismays · traumatizes · reeling
engulfs
Swallows up completely
- swampsWaterlogged forested wetlands
- inundatesOverwhelms with quantity
- overpowersDefeats through greater strength
overcomes · submerges · deluges · besieges · sweeps away · swallows · buries · drowns · consumes · envelops
- economic devastationSevere harm to an economy
devastate, devastation, devastating, devastated, devastations, devastator, devastators