ravaging
Destroying without mercy
Ravaging means causing severe destruction or damage.
The word implies sustained, widespread harm—armies ravaging the countryside, disease ravaging a population, time ravaging a once-beautiful face.
Wildfires are ravaging the region.
The present participle of ravage, it often functions as an adjective: the ravaging effects of addiction.
Forcible theft during conflict
- lootingTheft during disorder
- sackingDismissal from employment
- maraudingRoving to plunder
- despoilingForcibly stripping of possessions
raiding · reaving · plundering · ransacking · spoliation · depredation · brigandage · foray
Causing severe damage
- ruinousCausing severe destruction
- destructiveCausing severe harm
- annihilatingDestroying utterly and completely
- demolishingDestroying a structure completely
decimating · obliterating · wrecking · razing · desolating · laying waste · catastrophic · calamitous
Fierce and untamed
- brutalSavagely harsh or severe
- fierceViolently intense or aggressive
- violentInvolving physical force
- mercilessShowing no clemency
relentless · vicious · predatory · voracious · rapacious · bloodthirsty · barbaric · ferocious
Using poorly, inefficiently
- consumingUsing up entirely
- afflictingCausing ongoing distress
- debilitatingCausing severe impairment
- deterioratingBecoming progressively worse
degenerative · emaciation · pestilence · plague · epidemic · blight · contagion · tuberculosis
Atmospheric breakdown of materials
- erodingGradually wearing away
- agingGrowing older over time
- deterioratingBecoming progressively worse
- crumblingBreaking down gradually
decaying · fading · wearing · corroding · rusting · dilapidating · entropy · impermanence
pillaging
Forcible theft during conflict
despoiling · raiding · reaving · plundering · ransacking · spoliation · depredation · brigandage · foray · incursion
devastating
Causing severe damage
- ruinousCausing severe destruction
- destructiveCausing severe harm
- annihilatingDestroying utterly and completely
demolishing · decimating · obliterating · wrecking · razing · desolating · laying waste · catastrophic · calamitous · disastrous
savage
Fierce and untamed
merciless · relentless · vicious · predatory · voracious · rapacious · bloodthirsty · barbaric · ferocious · unrelenting
wasting
Using poorly, inefficiently
- consumingUsing up entirely
- afflictingCausing ongoing distress
- debilitatingCausing severe impairment
deteriorating · degenerative · emaciation · pestilence · plague · epidemic · blight · contagion · tuberculosis · famine
weathering
Atmospheric breakdown of materials
- erodingGradually wearing away
- agingGrowing older over time
- deterioratingBecoming progressively worse
crumbling · decaying · fading · wearing · corroding · rusting · dilapidating · entropy · impermanence · transience
- plunderlooting, loot, booty, pillaging, spoils
- deforestationclear cutting, clearcutting, clear-cutting, illegal logging, selective logging
- destructiondestruction, destroying, demolishing, devastation, ruination
- bodily harmhurt, injure, wound, harm, injuries
- vandalismvandalism, defacement, tagging, defacing, graffiti tags
ravagingpreserving
Protecting from deterioration
protecting · saving · conserving · safeguarding · shielding
ravagingrebuilding
Constructing anew after destruction
restoring · constructing · building · repairing · construction
rapid, ravage, ravages, ravaged, ravish, rapine, ravager, ravagers