devastated

adjective

dev·​as·​tat·​ed ˈde-və-ˌstā-təd 

1

: brought to a state of ruin or destruction

Dr. Dawdy, a 38-year-old assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, is one of the more unusual relief workers among the thousands who have come to the devastated expanses of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

—John Schwartz

I present here a steady flow model for the blast dynamics and propose that through much of the devastated area the blast was a supersonic flow of a complex multiphase (solid, liquid, vapour) mixture.

—Susan Werner Kieffer

2

: emotionally shattered or distraught

Doug never called. He dumped me for the cheerleader, and I was, in the parlance of teen-age romance, absolutely devastated.

—Marialisa Calta

Mr. Jacoby was devastated; he felt he was a proven winner and should not be yanked for one bad half.

—Ira Berkow

Examples of devastated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The potency of fentanyl — 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times more than heroin — has overwhelmed medical examiners, devastated families and frustrated prosecutors who often don’t have enough evidence to file charges after a death. —Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 16 Jan. 2025

This time, the group has turned its attention to the devastated Los Angeles area. —Tavleen Tarrant, NBC News, 15 Jan. 2025

But the Rams — on a mission to win and also lift the spirits of their devastated hometown — did not flinch Monday night. —Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2025

The Context Firefighters are battling to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed at least 10 people, devastated communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena, and forced over 180,000 people to flee their homes. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at sense 1