Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

devastate

/ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.62 in modern English

Syllables
dev-as-tate
IPA
/ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/
13
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.

verb

To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.

verb

To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless remains (if any) and starting over.

verb

To greatly demoralize, to cause to suffer intense grief or dismay

Example Sentences

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dēvastātus, perfect passive participle of dēvastō (“to lay waste, devastate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)); from dē- (augmentative prefix) + vastō (“to destroy, lay waste”). See vast. First attested in 1638.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/
  • British English: /ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/

Inflected Forms

devastates (present, singular) devastating (participle, present) devastated (participle, past) devastated (past)

Derived Forms

devastated devastating devastative

Frequently Paired Words

devastation devastavit

Synonyms

decimate destroy raze ruin lay waste to waste desolate ravage scourge

Questions

How do you pronounce devastate?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/.
What does devastate mean?
To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.
Where does devastate come from?
First known use: First attested in 1638.

How to pronounce devastate

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “devastate”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈdɛv.ə.steɪt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “devastate”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “devastate” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.