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devastate

[dev-uh-stayt] / ˈdɛv əˌsteɪt /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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“Such reductions would devastate Arizona’s water users and its economy,” state officials warned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

Hibbs said: "Natural England's approach will devastate the Dartmoor hill pony population, it will make farms financially unviable and it's extremely doubtful there will be any environmental benefit."

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

The screwworm, which has the capacity to devastate cattle and sheep herds, has now appeared in Texas, where its costs could be enormous.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

The arrival of a potentially powerful El Nino weather system this year could devastate coral reefs around the world already weakened by back-to-back rounds of bleaching, scientists warn.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

But he had no way of knowing that Soviet commanders in Cuba also had dozens of short-range nuclear weapons—tactical weapons, designed to devastate enemies on the battlefield.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

This ash devastates farmland across at least eight states.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

It’s a burden that not only devastates families financially but also takes a toll on their health.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 23, 2026

However, this is a moment of real hope in a disease that hits people in their prime and devastates families.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025

“I think it’s that scarring, mental-health-wise. It just really devastates a person in a way they can’t come back from.”

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

Agricultural societies are ravaged by famine when drought, fire or earthquake devastates the annual rice or potato crop.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Now CEO of Elanco Animal Health, Simmons said his family’s upstate New York grape farm had been devastated by a hailstorm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

At the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which was also devastated by the attack, mourners sat in silence in assembled chairs as they watched the raising of an Israeli flag.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

A heated debate divides the kibbutzim that Hamas devastated three years ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

In an earlier tribute, Chelsea said it was "devastated" to learn of the death of Newton, who once played for the club's academy.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

By the time I come up they are no longer in the devastated place.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

For Lawat, the legal minefield has made an already devastating loss even harder to navigate.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

“At first glance, these are devastating figures for German manufacturing,” said Ralph Solveen, an economist at Commerzbank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

There too, Kagan explained, companies made “misrepresentations” that led to “overuse” of their products, producing devastating consequences that state and local governments were able to recover for under state law.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

"It's absolutely heartbreaking. It really is emotionally devastating, because it's utter despair: no more lake," said amateur local historian David Favre, who lives in the Swiss village of Les Brenets.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Or a tragedy, which, regardless of how utterly devastating it feels in the moment, it also is not.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama




Vocabulary lists containing devastate


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