Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of destroy

55 similar words · 9 opposite words

Another word for destroy is level. Other synonyms of destroy are waste, eliminate, wreck, ruin and harry. The opposite of destroy is produce.

Synonyms and similar words for destroy

verbMore synonyms

  • annihilateTo reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
  • breakTo destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.
  • demolishTo destroy (buildings, etc.), especially in a planned or intentional fashion.
  • kill
  • ruinTo destroy or render something no longer usable or operable.
  • wasteTo devastate; to destroy.
  • aerosolize
  • atomize
  • bewreckTo wreck completely; ruin; destroy.
  • blot out
  • blotto
  • dashTo ruin; to destroy.
  • decompose
  • desolateTo devastate or lay waste somewhere.
  • devastateTo destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
  • diffuse
  • disintegrate
  • disperseTo break up and disappear; to dissipate.
  • dissolveTo destroy, make disappear.
  • eliminateTo completely remove, get rid of, put an end to.
  • eradicateTo destroy completely; to reduce to nothing radically; to put an end to.
  • erase
  • exterminate
  • extinguishTo put an end to (something) completely; to annihilate, to destroy.
  • extirpateTo destroy completely; to annihilate.
  • fuck vulgarTo break, to destroy.
  • harryTo strip, lay waste, ravage.
  • jazzTo destroy; to ruin.
  • lay wasteTo completely destroy, especially of a geographical area or region.
  • levelTo destroy by reducing to ground level; to raze.
  • liquidateTo kill (someone), usually violently, and especially for some ideological or political aim; to assassinate, to murder...
  • nukeTo destroy or erase completely.
  • obliterateTo destroy (someone or something) completely, leaving no trace; to annihilate, to wipe out.
  • overturnTo overthrow or destroy.
  • pull downTo demolish or destroy (a building etc.).
  • pulverizeAmerican and Oxford British spelling of pulverise.
  • razeTo completely remove (someone or something), especially from a place, a situation, etc.; also, to remove from...
  • ravageTo devastate, destroy or lay waste to something.
  • remove
  • ruinateTo reduce to ruins; to destroy.
  • stamp out
  • total
  • subvertTo overturn from the foundation; to overthrow; to ruin utterly.
  • unbreed figurativelyTo unmake or destroy.
  • unexist
  • unmakeTo destroy or take apart; to cause (a made article) to lose its nature.
  • uprootTo destroy (something) utterly; to eradicate, exterminate.
  • wipe outTo destroy (especially, a large number or complete set of people or things); to obliterate.
  • wipe offTo destroy completely, leaving no trace.
  • wreckTo destroy violently; to cause severe damage to something, to a point where it no longer works, or is useless.
  • benothing obsolete, rareTo reduce to nothing; annihilate.
  • fordo obsoleteTo kill, destroy.
  • overthrow rare
  • race obsoleteTo level or tear down (a building, a town, etc.) to the ground; to demolish.
  • ravel obsoleteTo destroy or ruin (something), like unravelling fabric.

Opposite of destroy

verbMore antonyms

Meaning of destroy

  1. verb To damage beyond use or repair; to damage (something) to the point that it effectively ceases to exist.
  2. verb To neutralize, undo a property or condition.
  3. verb To put down or euthanize.

Full definition of destroy

destroy in other languages

Questions about synonyms of destroy

What is another word for destroy?
Destroy has 55 synonyms on Word.ws, such as level, waste, eliminate, wreck, ruin, harry, demolish and dissolve.
What is the opposite of destroy?
The opposite of destroy is produce. Other antonyms of destroy are make, build and create.
What does destroy mean?
Destroy means to damage beyond use or repair; to damage (something) to the point that it effectively ceases to exist.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: destroy (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of destroy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/destroy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.