devastating

[dev·as·tate]

Something that's shocking and distressing is devastating. Watching the local ice cream shop burn to the ground would be devastating to many neighborhood kids.

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Adjective S.
wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction; "possessing annihilative power"; "a devastating hurricane"; "the guns opened a withering fire"

Adjective S.
physically or spiritually devastating; often used in combination; "a crushing blow"; "a crushing rejection"; "bone-crushing"

Adjective S.
making light of; "afire with annihilating invective"; "a devastating portrait of human folly"; "to compliments inflated I''ve a withering reply"- W.S.Gilbert


p. pr. & vb. n.
of Devastate


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Usage Examples

I remember when I was 33 or 34, it was devastating because I realized I wasn't a kid anymore. The great thing about 40 was that I really felt like I had life experience and knew what I was doing now.

Coming to terms with the fact that my marriage was a failure was devastating and very difficult.

When families are strong and stable, so are children - showing higher levels of wellbeing and more positive outcomes. But when things go wrong - either through family breakdown or a damaged parental relationship - the impact on a child's later life can be devastating.

Another parent's different approach raises the possibility that you've made a mistake with your child. We simply can't tolerate that because we fear that any mistake, no matter how minor, could have devastating consequences. So we proclaim the superiority of our own choices. We've lost sight of the fact that people have preferences.

But having said that, what's happening with campaign finance reform and our political culture is devastating.

The more we shelter children from every disappointment, the more devastating future disappointments will be.

We've been a country that's been fortunate to be protected by two oceans, to not have serious attacks on our territory for most of our history. And we were unfortunately reminded in a very devastating way of our vulnerability.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

It's a great excuse and luxury, having a job and blaming it for your inability to do your own art. When you don't have to work, you are left with the horror of facing your own lack of imagination and your own emptiness. A devastating possibility when finally time is your own.

Just learning that you have MS is such a devastating shock.

Evolutionary naturalism takes the inherent limitations of science and turns them into a devastating philosophical weapon: because science is our only real way of knowing anything, what science cannot know cannot be real.

The devastating punch we took on September 11th still reverberates throughout American society.

We know that al Qaeda is seeking radioactive materials and technology to launch a devastating attack, and that hundreds of radioactive sources have been lost or stolen in the U.S. and around the world.

I am an opponent of Saddam Hussein, but an opponent also, of the sanctions that have killed a million Iraqi children and an opponent of the United States' apparent desire to plunge the Middle East into a new and devastating war.

A devastating commentary on the war in Iraq is that we have been unable to spend money on infrastructure.

I have to admit, like so many women, I always knew there was a chance. But like so many women, I never thought it would be me. I never thought I'd hear those devastating words: 'You have breast cancer.'

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