devastating
adjective
dev·as·tat·ing ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ 
1
: causing great damage or harm
a devastating flood/earthquake
a devastating injury
A devastating coastal tsunami could also result from a severe displacement of the San Andreas Fault.
Gary Sandquist
Gary Sandquist2
: causing extreme emotional pain
a devastating loss
Even the most banal domestic melodramas, readers come to understand, are experienced as devastating tragedies by children living them for the first time. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly3
: extremely effective or powerful
a devastating satire
He had a devastating wit and an utter contempt for shoddy work in physics. Jeremy Bernstein
Jeremy Bernstein devastatingly
ˈde-və-ˌstā-tiŋ-lē
adverb Some people recover readily from the infection, but in others it becomes disseminated, spreading rapidly and devastatingly from lungs to bones, skin and nervous system Lawrence Galton
Lawrence Galton Postcards from the Edge is a devastatingly savvy, bitingly funny, yet sad movie based on Carrie Fisher's autobiographical novel about Hollywood. Jeffrey Lyons
Jeffrey Lyons … is portrayed as a devastatingly effective power broker in the Senate. Alan Brinkley
Alan Brinkley 
Synonyms
- annihilatory
- calamitous
- cataclysmal
- cataclysmic
- destructive
- devastative
- disastrous
- ruinous
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Word History
First Known Use
1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1
devastating 1 of 2
adjective
as in disastrous
causing or tending to cause destruction a devastating blow to our morale Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- disastrous
- destructive
- devastative
- deadly
- lethal
- ruinous
- calamitous
- fatal
- cataclysmic
- poisonous
- fell
- annihilatory
- murderous
- cataclysmal
- killer
- detrimental
- harmful
- virulent
- pernicious
- deleterious
- deathly
- antibiotic
- vital
- baleful
- mortal
- pestilent
- biocidal
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- protective
- nondestructive
- constructive
- productive
- creative
- useful
- harmless
- formative
- innocuous
- helpful
- innocent
- healthy
- healthful
- preservative
- wholesome
- ameliorative
- inoffensive
- nonfatal
- nonlethal
- salubrious
devastating
2 of 2verb
1
as in ravaging
to bring destruction to (something) through violent action the city was devastated, first by the earthquake and then by fires Synonyms & Similar Words
- ravaging
- destroying
- ruining
- overwhelming
- shattering
- desolating
- wrecking
- scourging
- plundering
- decimating
- obliterating
- sacking
- annihilating
- looting
- eradicating
- despoiling
- stripping
- marauding
- wracking
- overpowering
- smashing
- extirpating
- vaporizing
- extinguishing
- demolishing
- pillaging
- wiping out
- harrying
- expunging
- wasting
- crushing
- nuking
- totaling
- rubbing out
- mowing
- razing
- overrunning
- foraying
- overthrowing
- totalling
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- recovering
- rehabilitating
- restoring
- repairing
- redeeming
- fixing
- reconditioning
- mending
- patching
- revamping
2
as in shattering
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of the explosion devastated an entire city block Synonyms & Similar Words
- shattering
- destroying
- ruining
- wrecking
- demolishing
- damaging
- smashing
- overcoming
- crippling
- desolating
- decimating
- ravaging
- annihilating
- wasting
- pulverizing
- eroding
- crushing
- extinguishing
- wracking
- killing
- vaporizing
- tearing down
- marring
- razing
- totaling
- dismantling
- defeating
- pulling down
- blasting
- disfiguring
- breaking
- doing in
- nuking
- deteriorating
- rubbing out
- creaming
- disintegrating
- removing
- impairing
- spoiling
- subduing
- harming
- conquering
- overbearing
- injuring
- undoing
- drubbing
- thrashing
- clobbering
- totalling
- mutilating
- trimming
- routing
- mastering
- surmounting
- dynamiting
- walloping
- mangling
- trouncing
- whipping
- overmatching
- licking
- eradicating
- obliterating
- beating
- gutting
- besting
- dissolving
- vitiating
- slaughtering
- sacking
- dilapidating
- blowing up
- looting
- washing out
- extirpating
- unmaking
- defacing
- plundering
- scouring
- slaying
- liquidating
- wiping out
- trampling
- taking down
- exterminating
- skunking
- despoiling
- murdering
- assassinating
- expunging
- cutting down
- disassembling
- scotching
- dispatching
- blotting out
- executing
- effacing
- massacring
- pillaging
- triumphing (over)
- winning (against)
- felling
- prevailing (over)
- vandalizing
- butchering
- killing off
- trashing
- havocking
- sweeping (away)
- unbuilding
- zapping
- taking out
- wearing (away)
- stamping (out)
- snuffing (out)
- rooting (out)
- mowing (down)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- building
- creating
- constructing
- repairing
- raising
- rearing
- fixing
- shaping
- producing
- making
- erecting
- forging
- manufacturing
- setting up
- forming
- mending
- protecting
- framing
- saving
- inventing
- assembling
- rebuilding
- establishing
- bringing about
- revamping
- organizing
- patching
- reconditioning
- fashioning
- constituting
- molding
- reconstructing
- preserving
- fabricating
- doctoring
- restoring
- instituting
- founding
- remodeling
- putting up
- conserving
- fathering
- renovating
3
as in overwhelming
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress we were devastated by the awful news of his death Synonyms & Similar Words
- overwhelming
- overcoming
- crushing
- disturbing
- overpowering
- oppressing
- swamping
- upsetting
- overmastering
- whelming
- shattering
- drowning
- flooring
- rocking
- distressing
- defeating
- grinding (down)
- unnerving
- staggering
- demoralizing
- prostrating
- snowing under
- sinking
- deluging
- refuting
- throwing
- unmanning
- confuting
- breaking