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
Examples of devastating in a Sentence
a devastating blow to our morale
Recent Examples on the Web
This was somehow more devastating for Minnesota than last year’s Game 5 debacle against Dallas.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 29 May 2025
The impact on the demographic group driving growth in population, consumer spending, and higher education enrollment in this country would be nothing short of devastating.
—Noreen Sugrue, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Charitable institutions in our country supported this practice on a much larger scale in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the results were devastating.
—Time, 28 May 2025
The brigade’s press officer suggested to me that a drop-off in Western weapon supplies might not be as devastating as once thought.
—Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastating
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Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 29 May 2025
The impact on the demographic group driving growth in population, consumer spending, and higher education enrollment in this country would be nothing short of devastating.
—Noreen Sugrue, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Charitable institutions in our country supported this practice on a much larger scale in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the results were devastating.
—Time, 28 May 2025
The brigade’s press officer suggested to me that a drop-off in Western weapon supplies might not be as devastating as once thought.
—Nataliya Gumenyuk, The Atlantic, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for devastating
Cite this Entry
“Devastating.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devastating. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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