devastation

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˌdɛvəˈsteɪʃən/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    Great destruction or damage, especially over a wide area.; A state of severe shock, grief, or emotional distress.; The act of laying waste or desolating a region.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable

Collocations

widespread devastationcause devastationtotal devastationleave devastation in its wakeenvironmental devastationutter devastation

Derivatives

devastatedevastatingdevastatinglydevastateddevastator

Synonyms

destructionruindesolationhavocannihilationravage

Antonyms

creationconstructionpreservation

Commonly confused

desolation
EN: 'Desolation' emphasizes emptiness, loneliness, and bleakness; 'devastation' emphasizes violent destruction and overwhelming damage.
destruction
EN: 'Destruction' is a more general term for the act of destroying; 'devastation' implies a greater scale and emotional impact of ruin.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember the 'a' in the second syllable: 'dev-a-station', not 'devestation'. The root verb 'devastate' also has a single 's' and single 't'.

💬 Examples

  1. The hurricane left a trail of devastation across the coastal region.

  2. She felt a sense of devastation when she heard the news of her friend's death.

  3. The devastation of the forest by illegal logging has had lasting environmental consequences.