| / English Dictionary |
DEVASTATION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists
Synonyms:
destruction; devastation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("devastation" is a kind of...):
conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "devastation"):
disaster (an act that has disastrous consequences)
kill (the destruction of an enemy plane or ship or tank or missile)
laying waste; ruin; ruination; ruining; wrecking (destruction achieved by causing something to be wrecked or ruined)
demolishing; leveling; razing; tearing down (complete destruction of a building)
annihilation; obliteration (destruction by annihilating something)
decimation (destroying or killing a large part of the population (literally every tenth person as chosen by lot))
self-destruction (the act of destroying yourself)
neutralisation; neutralization ((euphemism) the removal of a threat by killing or destroying it (especially in a covert operation or military operation))
sabotage (a deliberate act of destruction or disruption in which equipment is damaged)
extermination; liquidation (the act of exterminating)
holocaust (an act of mass destruction and loss of life (especially in war or by fire))
demolition (the act of demolishing)
spoliation ((law) the intentional destruction of a document or an alteration of it that destroys its value as evidence)
hooliganism; malicious mischief; vandalism (willful wanton and malicious destruction of the property of others)
Derivation:
devastate (cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Plundering with excessive damage and destruction
Synonyms:
devastation; ravaging
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("devastation" is a kind of...):
pillage; pillaging; plundering (the act of stealing valuable things from a place)
Derivation:
devastate (cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An event that results in total destruction
Synonyms:
desolation; devastation
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("devastation" is a kind of...):
ruin; ruination (an event that results in destruction)
Derivation:
devastate (cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The feeling of being confounded or overwhelmed
Example:
her departure left him in utter devastation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("devastation" is a kind of...):
feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)
Derivation:
devastate (overwhelm or overpower)
Sense 5
Meaning:
The state of being decayed or destroyed
Synonyms:
desolation; devastation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("devastation" is a kind of...):
deterioration; impairment (a symptom of reduced quality or strength)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "devastation"):
ruin; ruination (an irrecoverable state of devastation and destruction)
blight (a state or condition being blighted)
Derivation:
devastate (cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly)
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