# devastate

Pronunciation: say "DEV-uh-stayt" US/UK /ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/, AUS /ˈdev.ə.stæɪt/

## Verb

1. To ruin most or all of the things across a large area, such as a city's buildings or a forest's trees.
   - Simple: To destroy most of the buildings, land, or trees across a large area.
   - _Wildfires can devastate entire forests in a matter of days._
   - _The earthquake devastated three coastal towns within minutes._
2. To cause someone intense grief or dismay, draining away their spirit.
   - Simple: To make someone feel deep grief or shock.
   - _The news of her death devastated the entire family._
   - _A sudden loss like that can devastate even the strongest person._
3. To damage something so completely that it cannot be saved or repaired, leaving only the choice to abandon it or start over.
   - Simple: To break something so badly that it cannot be fixed and must be replaced.
   - _The flood devastated the old factory beyond any hope of repair._
   - _A single reckless decision can devastate a business built over decades._
4. To destroy an entire set of connected ideas, beliefs, and firmly held opinions.
   - Simple: To completely break apart someone's whole set of ideas or beliefs.
   - _The new evidence devastated their long-held theory._
   - _Findings like these can devastate an entire school of thought._

## Origin

Borrowed from Latin dēvastātus, the past participle of dēvastō ("to lay waste, devastate"), formed from the intensive prefix dē- plus vastō ("to destroy, lay waste"), related to "vast." It was first attested in 1638.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/devastate (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).