Word · CEFR B1 · Frequency #7732
devastate
摧毁；毁坏；使沦为废墟
核心释义
To destroy or ruin a place or thing completely, often over a large area or beyond repair.
- 1.
大面积毁坏大量事物,如城市的大部分建筑、区域的多个城市或森林的树木
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.
- 2.
摧毁一系列相关的想法、信念和坚定观点
To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
- 3.
破坏到无法修复,只能废弃或清除残骸后重新开始
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.
- 4.
使极度沮丧,引起强烈的悲伤或惊愕
To greatly demoralize, to cause to suffer intense grief or dismay
使极度悲痛；使震惊；使沮丧；彻底推翻；粉碎（理论、信念等）；大面积毁坏大量事物,如城市的大部分建筑、区域的多个城市或森林的树木；摧毁一系列相关的想法、信念和坚定观点；破坏到无法修复,只能废弃或清除残骸后重新开始
用法In use
The earthquake devastated the entire city, leaving thousands homeless.
用法提示：动词的过去式形式，表示彻底破坏
The news of his death devastated his family and friends.
用法提示：动词的过去式形式，表示精神上的摧毁
A wildfire can devastate a forest in just a few hours.
用法提示：动词原形，表示物理上的毁灭
devastate + noun/pronoun (physical destruction)
用于指物理上的大规模破坏。
The hurricane devastated the entire region.
飓风毁坏了整个地区。
be devastated by + noun/pronoun (emotional impact)
被动语态，常表示情感上受到强烈冲击。
相关词与表达Connections
搭配Collocations
- devastate a city
- 摧毁城市
- The earthquake devastated the city, leaving thousands homeless.地震摧毁了这座城市，导致数千人无家可归。
- devastate crops
- 毁坏庄稼
- The drought devastated the crops, causing a severe food shortage.干旱毁坏了庄稼，造成严重的粮食短缺。
- devastate the economy
- 使经济崩溃
- The financial crisis devastated the economy of the entire region.金融危机使整个地区的经济崩溃。
- devastate someone emotionally
- 使某人精神崩溃
- The loss of her husband devastated her emotionally.失去丈夫使她在精神上崩溃了。
- devastate hopes
学习提示Learner notes
记忆技巧Memory Tip
de-加强+vast巨大+ate动词，想象巨大破坏使荒废。
语境与语域Context & Register
register: mixed; contexts: natural disasters, emotional shock, physical destruction; note_zh: 该词在不同语境下意义不同，多用于正式或书面语，既可指物理上的彻底毁坏，也可指情感上的压倒性打击。
发音与拼写Pronunciation & Spelling
The words 'debate', 'create', and 'inflate' share the same final sound /eɪt/ as in the last syllable of 'devastate' (though stress differs). The words 'private', 'delicate', and 'immediate' end in /ɪt/ or /ət/ and are spelling lookalikes with different sounds.
用法优先级Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
一起学习词形Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from AI_FALLBACK, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.