eradicate

Syllables: e·rad·i·cate/ɪˈɹæd.ɪ.keɪt//əˈræd.əˌkeɪt/

eradicate verb: to pull up by the roots.

Image: Photo Credit: James Gathany Content Providers(s): CDC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Verb (1)

eradicate (third-person singular simple present eradicates, present participle eradicating, simple past and past participle eradicated)

(archaic, transitive) To pull up by the roots.

Synonyms:

root out, root up, uproot

Antonyms:

radicate
(transitive) To destroy completely; to reduce to nothing radically; to put an end to.
- Near-synonyms: delete, erase
- Smallpox was globally eradicated in 1980.
Synonyms:

annihilate, eliminate, exterminate, extirpate, destroy, aerosolize, atomize, benothing, bewreck, blot out

Antonyms:

encourage, foster, introduce, protect, radicate

Verb (2)

eradicate

(obsolete, participle) eradicated

eradicate meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

eradicate in Hindi

to pull up by the roots: उखाड़ना ukhāṛnā
to completely destroy; to reduce to nothing radically: उन्मूलन unmūlan

eradicate in Tamil

வேரறு, வேருடன் அழி, அடியோடழி, அடியோடு அழி, அடியோடு ஒழி, முறிறலுமழி

eradicate in Bengali

সম্পূর্ণরূপে নির্মূল করা, ধ্বংস করা

More languagesFewer languages

eradicate in Telugu: నిర్మూలించు nirmūliñcu
eradicate in Malayalam: മൂലച്ഛേദം ചെയ്യുക, ഉന്മൂലനം ചെയ്യുക, പിഴുതുകളയുക, വേരോടെ പിഴുക
eradicate in Kannada: ಬೇರುಸಹಿತ ಕಿತ್ತುಹಾಕು, ನಿರ್ಮೂಲಗೊಳಿಸು, ಮೂಲೋತ್ಪಾಟನ ಮಾಡು, ನಾಶಮಾಡು
eradicate in Odia: ଉପାଡ଼ିବା upāṛibā
eradicate in Persian: ریشهکن کردن riše-kan kardan, از بین بردن az beyn bordan, نابود کردن nâbud kardan
eradicate in Thai: ถอนราก tŏn râak, ถอนรากถอนโคน tɔ̌ɔn-râak-tɔ̌ɔn-koon, ทำลายให้สิ้น tam laai hâi sîn
eradicate in Vietnamese: nhổ, triệt hạ, xóa sạch, trừ tiệt

Examples of eradicate in a sentence

She put a banner for the One Campaign, an effort to eradicate poverty in the third world led by U2's singer Bono, on her LJ […]2007, Anastasia Goodstein, Totally Wired:
The germinal matrix in this area is then eradicated either by surgical or chemical matrixectomy using phenol or NaOH.2016, Roba Khundkar, Silva Samantha De, Rajat Chowdury, Consent in Surgery: A Practical Guide, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 89:

All 24 example sentences with eradicate

Synonyms of eradicate

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of eradicate

Forms of eradicate

third-person singular present	eradicates
present participle	eradicating
past participle	eradicated
past	eradicated

Past tense of eradicate: eradicated

Origin of eradicate

PIE word *wréh₂ds From Middle English eradicaten (“to eradicate”), from eradicat(e) (“eradicated”, past participle of eradicaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin ērādīcātus, the perfect passive participle of ērādīcō (“to uproot, root out; to anihilate, eradicate”), from ē- (“out”) + rādīx (“root”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also radish.

From Middle English eradicat(e) (“eradicated”, past participle of eradicaten), used up until Early Modern English, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Words formed from eradicate

Questions about eradicate

What does eradicate mean?: Eradicate means to pull up by the roots.
What is eradicate in Hindi?: Eradicate in Hindi is उखाड़ना (ukhāṛnā), उन्मूलन (unmūlan). See Eradicate meaning in Hindi.
How do you use eradicate in a sentence?: She put a banner for the One Campaign, an effort to eradicate poverty in the third world led by U2's singer Bono, on her LJ […]
What part of speech is eradicate?: Eradicate is a verb.
How do you pronounce eradicate?: Eradicate is pronounced /ɪˈɹæd.ɪ.keɪt/.
What is the past tense of eradicate?: The past tense of eradicate is eradicated.

Words near eradicate in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: eradicate (page history and authors); eradicate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eradicate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eradicate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eradicate (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); eradicate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ଉପାଡ଼ିବା (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-eradicate.ogg, en-au-eradicate.ogg.

Cite this entry: “eradicate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/eradicate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.