devastatingadj.
That devastates. Frequently figurative, esp. in trivial or hyperbolical use: very effective or upsetting; astounding, overwhelming, ‘stunning’. Cf. devastatingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective] > devastating
wastingc1230
wastefula1400
spoiling1565
desolative1593
desolatory1606
depopulating1627
devastating1634
ravaginga1649
devasting1659
vastative1667
devastative1805
depopulative1861
depopulatory1864
earth-shattering1864
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge > and amazing
ferlya1400
wonderfulc1540
stupendiousa1549
portentous1553
stupenduous1610
stupendous1618
stupend1621
tremendous1813
awesome1838
devastating1889
dizzy1896
doozy1903
staggering1934
eyewatering1950
zonking great1958
stonking1980
1634 T. Herbert Relation Some Yeares Trauaile 81 Those deuastating and mercilesse Infidels.
1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 42 Thou, colossal Skeleton, that..In thy devastating omnipotence, Art king of this frail world.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. 105 An exhausting and devastating struggle of nine years.
1889 A. James Diary 4 Aug. (1965) 50 The somewhat devastating episode of July 18th when Harry after a much longer absence than usual presented himself, doubled by William!
1910 Daily Chron. 22 Mar. 1/3 It is expected that a devastating strike will be declared.
1924 G. W. Hillyard Forty Years Lawn Tennis iii. 83 No man who ever walked on to a court was equipped with more perfect style, greater physical advantages, or more devastating strokes.
1925 New Yorker 8 Aug. 4/2 Not since the Tango provided luscious livelihoods for many svelte youths has so devastating a dance agitated the town.
1926 S. Jameson Three Kingdoms ii. 63 She was struggling with a devastating shyness.
1927 H. T. Lowe-Porter tr. T. Mann Magic Mountain (London ed.) I. v. 378 Everything, whether in jest or earnest, was ‘devastating’, the bob-run, the sweet for dinner, her own temperature.
1933 E. Shanks Enchanted Village ix. 133 Oh yes, poor old Julian—I think, to be honest, that he's a devastating bore.
1936 R. Lehmann Weather in Streets i. 11 Oh, darling have you got to go? How devastating.
1957 I. Murdoch Sandcastle ix. 150 From the very depths of his being the knowledge came to him, suddenly and with devastating certainty.
1971 Sunday Times 28 Mar. 32/6 Ludovic Kennedy published his devastating analysis of the Christie murders and established the innocence of Timothy Evans.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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adj.1634