devastation
Complete and utter wreckage
Devastation is severe destruction or ruin, especially on a large scale.
A hurricane leaves devastation in its wake.
The word carries emotional weight—beyond mere damage, devastation suggests something laid waste: the devastation of war, economic devastation.
It can also describe overwhelming grief or shock: The news left her in complete devastation.
Devastating, large-scale misfortune
- calamitySevere misfortune or disaster
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
- destructionAct of completely ruining
- annihilationUtter, complete destruction
obliteration · havoc · ravage · ruination · wreckage · aftermath · tsunami · earthquake
Decayed structural remains
- rubbleBroken building fragments
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- wreckageDestroyed remains of something
- destructionAct of completely ruining
demolition · collapse · decimation · carnage · wasteland · scorched · razed · flattened
Intense sorrow from loss
- heartbreakCrushing emotional pain
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- despairTotal absence of hope
- sorrowDeep emotional distress
mourning · bereavement · loss · trauma · shock · numbness · shattered · crushed
Large-scale woodland elimination
- desertificationLand becoming barren, infertile
- pollutionEnvironmental harm from waste
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
- degradationDecline in condition
blight · contamination · erosion · depletion · barrenness · wastelands · clear-cutting · strip-mining
Legal status when insolvent
- collapseSudden structural failure
- recessionProlonged economic decline
- depressionProlonged low state
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
foreclosure · unemployment · insolvency · crash · downturn · austerity · inflation · destitution
catastrophe
Devastating, large-scale misfortune
- calamitySevere misfortune or disaster
- cataclysmViolent, large-scale disaster
- destructionAct of completely ruining
annihilation · obliteration · havoc · ravage · ruination · wreckage · aftermath · tsunami · earthquake · hurricane
ruins
Decayed structural remains
- rubbleBroken building fragments
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- wreckageDestroyed remains of something
destruction · demolition · collapse · decimation · carnage · wasteland · scorched · razed · flattened · leveled
grief
Intense sorrow from loss
- heartbreakCrushing emotional pain
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- despairTotal absence of hope
sorrow · mourning · bereavement · loss · trauma · shock · numbness · shattered · crushed · inconsolable
deforestation
Large-scale woodland elimination
- desertificationLand becoming barren, infertile
- pollutionEnvironmental harm from waste
- extinctionComplete vanishing of a species
degradation · blight · contamination · erosion · depletion · barrenness · wastelands · clear-cutting · strip-mining · bleaching
bankruptcy
Legal status when insolvent
- collapseSudden structural failure
- recessionProlonged economic decline
- depressionProlonged low state
impoverishment · foreclosure · unemployment · insolvency · crash · downturn · austerity · inflation · destitution
- griefgrief, mourning, bereavement, sorrow, grieving
- Atomic Bombingatomic bomb, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, atomic bombing, Little Boy
- emotionsjoy, anger, fear, sadness, love
- feelingsemotion, feeling, pleasure, joy, anger
- disastersdisaster, earthquake, earthquakes, catastrophe, floods
- wartimerationing, war economy, war bonds, war effort, evacuations
devastationcreation
Making something exist
construction · building · erection · development · establishment
devastationpreservation
Maintaining something's condition
protection · conservation · safeguarding · maintenance · stewardship
devastationrestoration
Returning something to condition
reconstruction · rebuilding · renovation · rehabilitation · regeneration
- economic devastationSevere harm to an economy