devastated

adjective

dev·​as·​tat·​ed ˈde-və-ˌstā-təd 

1

: brought to a state of ruin or destruction

Dr. Dawdy, a 38-year-old assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago, is one of the more unusual relief workers among the thousands who have come to the devastated expanses of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

—John Schwartz

I present here a steady flow model for the blast dynamics and propose that through much of the devastated area the blast was a supersonic flow of a complex multiphase (solid, liquid, vapour) mixture.

—Susan Werner Kieffer

2

: emotionally shattered or distraught

Doug never called. He dumped me for the cheerleader, and I was, in the parlance of teen-age romance, absolutely devastated.

—Marialisa Calta

Mr. Jacoby was devastated; he felt he was a proven winner and should not be yanked for one bad half.

—Ira Berkow

Examples of devastated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The devastated family founded a charity in his name, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, that embraced a mission to benefit those with intellectual disabilities. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024

However, there was no indication that a truce in Lebanon would hasten a ceasefire and hostage-release deal in devastated Gaza, where Israel is battling Palestinian militant group Hamas. —Maayan Lubell, Maya Gebeily, and Laila Bassam, The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Nov. 2024

About 38% of the voters of the devastated area of western North Carolina are registered as Republicans, 23% are Democrats and 38% are unaffiliated, according to Michael Bitzer, professor of politics at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C. —Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024

Little is known about the situation that led to the musician’s death, but no matter what happened, millions of fans around the world remain devastated following the tragedy. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 17 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at sense 1