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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
devastating
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a cruel/devastating/crushing blow (=extremely hard to bear)
▪ Her loss came as a devastating blow to her father.
a severe/devastating earthquake (=causing a lot of damage)
▪ The whole town was flattened by a devastating earthquake.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
more
▪ Another picture, a pen and pencil drawing, is a more devastating exposure still.
▪ Felipe did that in a much more devastating way.
▪ Nothing can be more devastating to a fighter than to be caught by his opponent midway between one stance and another.
most
▪ The most devastating weapon of the war All the combatant armies went to war with machine-guns.
▪ The deal will eliminate heavy intercontinental missiles and multiple-warhead missiles, the most devastating weapons mankind has ever devised.
▪ But the most devastating effect has been the reduction of the water table.
■ NOUN
blow
▪ A sharp run-down in the business would be a devastating blow to the local economy.
▪ That would be a devastating blow to the long-term unemployed.
▪ Her loss is a devastating blow to the standing of the monarchy.
▪ That was a devastating blow from which the constituency is struggling to recover.
▪ Shaking a little at first but gradually warming to his theme, the sacked Chancellor dealt John Major a devastating blow.
▪ The death of Osvaldo was a devastating blow to all Danuese patriots.
effect
▪ He believes any merger with Darlington could have a devastating effect on health provision for Bishop Auckland.
▪ But fear of crime can have a devastating effect on people's lives, and particularly on women's lives.
▪ All had suffered devastating effects from the war.
▪ Why the devastating effect of her imaginings?
▪ With a rule-based approach an incorrect decision can have a devastating effect on the remainder of the analysis.
▪ They are severe and have a devastating effect on his personality, his physical well-being and his mental state.
▪ But he says the payout can't begin to compensate him for the devastating effect the accident has had on his life.
▪ The present drop in overseas students on top of this is having a devastating effect on the school's finances.
impact
▪ Does he agree that that policy would have a devastating impact on people who live in the country areas of Teignbridge?
▪ But when we faced its devastating impact on the lives of people we knew, we had no idea what to do.
▪ Such a decline in forecasts of demand inevitably has a devastating impact on the need for new generating capacity.
▪ Bills of this size will have a devastating impact on families still struggling to fight their way out of the recession.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be a sad/tragic/devastating etc commentary on sth
▪ The experience of some Sunday morning services in competition with golf is a sad commentary on the bending of principle to person.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The movie is a devastating parody of the star's life.
▪ The news of her sister's death was devastating.
▪ The oil spill had a devastating effect on sea birds and other wildlife.
▪ The palace was rebuilt in 1832 after a devastating fire.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
Devastating was the word that sprang to mind, so devastating that she wasn't sure she could handle a second shot!
▪ But fear of crime can have a devastating effect on people's lives, and particularly on women's lives.
▪ Mafouz fell heavily to earth amidst sudden, devastating silence.
▪ Never before had his country had such a devastating drought.
▪ Oh, lord, how devastating he looked when he laughed, and how much she longed to join in.
▪ The long-term psychological effects of this kind of violence can be devastating.
▪ The stroke had a devastating effect on Stanley's life.
▪ This can have devastating consequences, and may cause long-term damage to the urinary tract.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
devastating

devastating \devastating\ adj.

  1. highly critical; making light of; as, a devastating portrait of human folly.

    Syn: annihilating, withering.

  2. causing or capable of causing complete destruction; as, a devastating hurricane.

    Syn: annihilative.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
devastating

1630s, present participle adjective from devastate. Trivial use by 1889.

Wiktionary
devastating
  1. causing devastation v

  2. (present participle of devastate English)

WordNet
devastating
  1. adj. making light of; "afire with annihilating invective"; "a devastating portrait of human folly"; "to compliments inflated I've a withering reply"- W.S.Gilbert [syn: annihilating, withering]

  2. wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction; "possessing annihilative power"; "a devastating hurricane"; "the guns opened a withering fire" [syn: annihilative, annihilating, withering]

  3. physically or spiritually devastating; often used in combination; "a crushing blow"; "a crushing rejection"; "bone-crushing" [syn: crushing]

Usage examples of "devastating".

Or were they even now massing for a devastating assault on Achar through Ichtar?

In addition, a fledgling has to contend with the devastating effect of daylight, the ability to see, hear and smell things way beyond mortal capabilities, and an extraordinary mental acuity to mold mortal minds.

Hodges, advanced with equal speed into southeastern Belgium, reaching the Meuse River, from which the devastating German breakthrough had begun in May 1940, and capturing the fortresses of Namur and Liege, where the Germans had no time to organize a defense.

Buffo the Great, the terrible Buffo, hilarious, appalling, devastating Buffo with his round, white face and the inch-wide rings of rouge round his eyes, and his four-cornered mouth, like a bow tie, and, mockery of mockeries, under his roguishly cocked, white, conical cap, he wears a wig that does not simulate hair.

Harrogate the afternoon of the christening, and recounted other devastating incidents.

He was a wild-looking animal, robust and muscular, who weighed seventeen pounds in his winter coat, which had just now molted enough to reveal stout, cobby legs and devastating paws.

Summary: Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a plan to put a stop to the devastating tours of their world arranged by the tyrannical Mr.

Only in dramatic literature do we find the devastating tradition of blank verse still lingering, giving factitious prestige to the platitudes of dullards, and robbing the dramatic style of the genuine poet of its full natural endowment of variety, force and simplicity.

While men dived for the far walls of the room, Professor Durand followed the devastating robot right through the heap of junk.

Is it because men, while possessing a capacity for truth and enlightenment the equal of that possessed by women, simply have a devastating allergic reaction to the chemicals used in the ink or paper in this particular volume, which produces such distressing symptoms as head explosions, emulsification, metamorphosis into butter, and self-swallowing?

The result would be dust deposits subject to erosional forces of wind and rain, with predictably devastating effects.

Luke shouted with his wild, limitlessly exuberant laugh, that was so devastating in its idiotic exultancy that all words, reproaches, scorn, or attempts at reason were instantly reduced to nothing by it.

It might have been because the cologne was nearly ten years old, but when mixed with garam masala, it produced a devastating combination not too far from nerve gas.

One can deliver a much more devastating blow with a foot than a fist, one which has the further advantage of surprise because feet are seldom directly important in combat.

The interesting thing about Ketamine, especially in large doses, is its devastating effect on short-term memory.