ravage
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To devastate, destroy or lay waste to something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ravijSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹævɪdʒ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To devastate, destroy or lay waste to something.
transitive
To pillage or plunder destructively; to sack.
Cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
intransitive
To wreak destruction.
noun
Grievous damage or havoc.
Depredation or devastation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To devastate, destroy or lay waste to something.
Used this way, ravage is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use ravage
- “The ravages of time.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.