How to Use devastating in a Sentence

devastating

adjective
  • This was just devastating to have to deal with and go through.
    — Bethany Levrier, Peoplemag, 4 June 2024
  • Yet the genre spawned one of the most devastating diss tracks of all time.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 July 2026
  • To come this far and fall — again — at the last fence would be devastating.
    — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 17 May 2025
  • And that’s a painful and devastating thing to work through.
    — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2025
  • This is such a devastating loss of a huge life and Mike will be missed.
    — Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 10 June 2023
  • In my view, its loss would be a devastating blow to women’s health.
    — Jean Wactawski-Wende, The Conversation, 2 May 2025
  • Still, some places proved even more devastating.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 11 Apr. 2026
  • This is very devastating for me.
    — CBS News, 18 Feb. 2026
  • So for them, this is devastating.
    — Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2026
  • That's why this is so devastating.
    — Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 16 June 2026
  • Spills would be devastating for wildlife.
    — Kristen Monsell, Sun Sentinel, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Swift is known for her devastating track five ballads.
    — Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Words cannot express the devastating impact of this loss on all of us.
    — Louisa Moller, CBS News, 26 May 2026
  • What made the Tax Day flood so devastating was its speed.
    — Dominic Boyer, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2026
  • The money was a lifeline in the short term and devastating over time.
    — Michael Waters, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2025
  • The optics around the devastating fire hadn’t been good.
    — Rebecca Ellis, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026
  • And the range of the effects runs from near zero to devastating.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2023
  • Julio wants to opt out, but the effects on his livelihood could be devastating.
    — Judy Berman, TIME, 7 June 2024
  • The floater that made him such a devastating pick-and-roll ball-handler has abandoned him.
    — David Aldridge, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
  • This makes our words and comments more devastating.
    — Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2026
  • At the time, that was so devastating and hard to understand.
    — Vanessa Etienne, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
  • And a Young-Sarr pick-and-roll could be devastating.
    — David Aldridge, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2026
  • That’s what makes strokes, which cut off blood and oxygen supply to parts of the brain, so devastating.
    — Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 13 May 2026
  • The devastating comebacker changes his life in all kinds of ways.
    — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 1 July 2026
  • Her grandmother then showed her video footage of the devastating crash.
    — NBC News, 27 Mar. 2024
  • News of her death at the hands of her ex-husband was devastating for her family.
    — Nushrat Rahman, Freep.com, 1 Sep. 2025
  • This would have been a very devastating and tragic event if my family had to hear worse news.
    — Sarah Horbacewicz, CBS News, 12 May 2026
  • That call brought devastating news.
    — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
  • The deeper a fan invests in a club, the sweeter its high points and the more devastating its lows.
    — Carl Anka, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025
  • For an elite athlete, this is devastating.
    — Amy Cuddy, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'devastating.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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