1
as in to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
the family's attempts to annihilate the roach population in their apartment had met with little success
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to destroy
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
the tornado simply annihilated the family's home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to overcome
to defeat by a large margin
we didn't just win; we absolutely annihilated them!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of annihilate
The horrendous Pacific Palisades fire annihilated huge swaths of the surrounding community and burned some of the Getty Villa’s grounds.
—
Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2025
Fans of the 49ers will have to recognize that the Eagles just annihilated an opponent in the Chiefs that has been the bane of their existence since Shanahan arrived.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2025
One other central, if not overriding, purpose of Holocaust remembrance, however, must be to think of the millions who were annihilated not as impersonal statistics but as individuals with names, faces, identities, dreams, and emotions.
—Menachem Z. Rosensaft, TIME, 27 Jan. 2025
What happens after everything is annihilated doesn’t offer much in the way of narrative potential.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for annihilate
Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2025
Fans of the 49ers will have to recognize that the Eagles just annihilated an opponent in the Chiefs that has been the bane of their existence since Shanahan arrived.
—Jerry McDonald, The Mercury News, 10 Feb. 2025
One other central, if not overriding, purpose of Holocaust remembrance, however, must be to think of the millions who were annihilated not as impersonal statistics but as individuals with names, faces, identities, dreams, and emotions.
—Menachem Z. Rosensaft, TIME, 27 Jan. 2025
What happens after everything is annihilated doesn’t offer much in the way of narrative potential.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for annihilate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for annihilate
Verb
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Measles is a disease that has been considered largely eradicated in the United states for more than 20 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
14 Mar. 2025
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Measles was declared eradicated in the U.S. in 2000 but has resurfaced as vaccination rates have fallen.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA TODAY,
13 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Residents of states that have been impacted by this weekend's storms have posted photos online showing their homes destroyed by the tornadoes, with roofs fallen completely off, walls caved in and debris on lawns.—
Brenton Blanchet,
People.com,
16 Mar. 2025
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Taking on the role of a teenage boy named Chrono, players have to travel through time and assemble a team to stop a horrifying creature named Lavos from destroying the world.—
Hayes Madsen,
Rolling Stone,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The plethora of pixels can’t overcome a noise-prone sensor, though, and its picture tends to be soft.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
19 Mar. 2025
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Professionals can take control of their careers by overcoming these challenges and embracing an entrepreneurial mindset.—
Cheryl Robinson,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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That’s the short list of what this state’s brilliant educational minds, who are clearly raising absolutely no teenage boys, expect to erase.—
Pat Beall,
Orlando Sentinel,
16 Mar. 2025
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Time travel stories often feature grim themes of destruction and butterfly effect scenarios where even a single change can lead to disastrous outcomes (like Marty almost erasing himself from existence in Back to the Future).—
Hayes Madsen,
Rolling Stone,
16 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Many have long since been demolished or altered beyond recognition, but some of the most beautiful have miraculously kept their original structures and decoration intact.—
The New York Times,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Mar. 2025
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Some residential buildings have been demolished; a hole is punched into the side of a mosque; chunks of broken concrete now bare the inside of someone’s home to the outside world.—
Jeremy Diamond,
CNN,
28 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Gaza’s health ministry said the toll was likely to rise with many people buried under rubble.—
Abeer Salman,
CNN,
20 Mar. 2025
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Once a week or so, one of them takes a short helicopter ride to the northern slope of the Mauna Loa volcano – necessary because in 2022 an eruption buried more than a mile of the road in 30 feet of lava.—
Elizabeth Weise,
USA TODAY,
19 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Even before abolishing the department, the Trump administration blocked student loan forgiveness and repayment plans, slashed department staffing, and wiped the federal watchdog agency tasked with overseeing student loan servicing and collections.—
Sareen Habeshian,
Axios,
21 Mar. 2025
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What is Trump's justification for abolishing the department?—
Joey Garrison,
USA TODAY,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacramento Bee,
23 Mar. 2025
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But those stocks were mined with some gusto, and large portions of the island were essentially ruined.—
Nick Miller,
The Athletic,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Annihilate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annihilate. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025.
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