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
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
Examples of devastating in a Sentence
a devastating blow to our morale
Recent Examples on the Web
Democrats are bracing for a painful waiting game in the next few weeks as the party continues to reconcile its future after President Joe Biden's devastating debate last week.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 5 July 2024
What followed was one of the most devastating intellectual assaults on slavery ever published in the American colonies.
—Joseph Loconte, National Review, 4 July 2024
By taking the bureaucratic logics that govern our world and stretching them to their extremes, Fantasmas lays bare with devastating clarity the absurdity — and the profound emptiness — at the heart of American society.
—James Factora, Them, 3 July 2024
Advertisement Record-breaking Hurricane Beryl rips through the Carribbean At least six people have died after Hurricane Beryl cut a devastating swath through the Caribbean, capsizing fishing boats, downing power lines and ripping the roofs off homes.
—Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for devastating 
Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 5 July 2024
What followed was one of the most devastating intellectual assaults on slavery ever published in the American colonies.
—Joseph Loconte, National Review, 4 July 2024
By taking the bureaucratic logics that govern our world and stretching them to their extremes, Fantasmas lays bare with devastating clarity the absurdity — and the profound emptiness — at the heart of American society.
—James Factora, Them, 3 July 2024
Advertisement Record-breaking Hurricane Beryl rips through the Carribbean At least six people have died after Hurricane Beryl cut a devastating swath through the Caribbean, capsizing fishing boats, downing power lines and ripping the roofs off homes.
—Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for devastating
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'devastating.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Devastating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devastating. Accessed 15 Jul. 2024.
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