Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Devastate \Dev"as*tate\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   {Devastated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Devastating}.] [L. devastatus,
   p. p. of devastare to devastate; de + vastare to lay waste,
   vastus waste. See {Vast}.]
   To lay waste; to ravage; to desolate.

         Whole countries . . . were devastated.   --Macaulay.

   Syn: To waste; ravage; desolate; destroy; demolish; plunder;
        pillage.

Source : WordNet®

devastating
     adj 1: making light of; "afire with annihilating invective"; "a
            devastating portrait of human folly"; "to compliments
            inflated I've a withering reply"- W.S.Gilbert [syn: {annihilating},
             {withering}]
     2: wreaking or capable of wreaking complete destruction;
        "possessing annihilative power"; "a devastating
        hurricane"; "the guns opened a withering fire" [syn: {annihilative},
         {annihilating}, {withering}]
     3: physically or spiritually devastating; often used in
        combination; "a crushing blow"; "a crushing rejection";
        "bone-crushing" [syn: {crushing}]