Synonyms for destroy
dɪˈstrɔɪde·stroy

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:3.0 / 11 votes

1. destroyverb

   Synonyms:
   ruin, annihilate, waste, demolish, kill

   Antonyms:
   repair, make, restore

2. destroyverb

   To cause destruction.

   Hooligans destroy unprovoked

   Synonyms:
   annihilate, kill, waste, ruin, demolish

   Antonyms:
   restore, repair, make

3. destroyverb

   To neutralize, undo a property or condition.

   Smoking destroys the natural subtlety of the palate

   Synonyms:
   ruin, waste, annihilate, demolish, kill

   Antonyms:
   restore, repair, make

4. destroyverb

   To put down or euthanize.

   Destroying a rabid dog is required by law.

   Synonyms:
   kill, waste, ruin, demolish, annihilate

   Antonyms:
   make, repair, restore

5. destroyverb

   To defeat soundly.

   Synonyms:
   demolish, annihilate, waste, kill, ruin

   Antonyms:
   restore, make, repair

6. destroyverb

   To remove data.

   The memory leak happened because we forgot to destroy the temporary lists.

   Synonyms:
   annihilate, waste, demolish, ruin, kill

   Antonyms:
   repair, restore, make

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. destroy

   Abolish, to do away with, bring absolutely to an end, especially as something hostile, hindering, or harmful, was formerly used of persons and material objects, a usage now obsolete except in poetry or highly figurative speech. Abolish is now used of institutions, customs, and conditions, especially those wide-spread and long existing; as, to abolish slavery, ignorance, intemperance, poverty. A building that is burned to the ground is said to be destroyed by fire. Annihilate, as a philosophical term, signifies to put absolutely out of existence. As far as our knowledge goes, matter is never annihilated, but only changes its form. Some believe that the wicked will be annihilated. Abolish is not said of laws. There we use repeal, abrogate, nullify, etc.: repeal by the enacting body, nullify by revolutionary proceedings; a later statute abrogates, without formally repealing, any earlier law with which it conflicts. An appellate court may reverse or set aside the decision of an inferior court. Overthrow may be used in either a good or a bad sense; suppress is commonly in a good, subvert always in a bad sense; as, to subvert our liberties; to suppress a rebellion. The law prohibits what may never have existed; it abolishes an existing evil. We abate a nuisance, terminate a controversy. Compare CANCEL; DEMOLISH; EXTERMINATE.

   Synonyms:
   abate, abolish, abrogate, annihilate, annul, end, end, eradicate, exterminate, extirpate, nullify, obliterate, overthrow, prohibit, remove, repeal, reverse, revoke, set aside, stamp out, subvert, supplant, suppress, terminate

   Antonyms:
   authorize, cherish, confirm, continue, enact, establish, institute, introduce, legalize, promote, reinstate, renew, repair, restore, revive, set up, support, sustain

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. destroy

   Synonyms:
   demolish, annihilate, subvert, ruin, overthrow, undo, waste, consume

   Antonyms:
   restore, reinstate, repair, fabricate, make, construct, create

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. destroy, destructverb

   do away with, cause the destruction or undoing of

   "The fire destroyed the house"

   Synonyms:
   demolish, ruin, put down, destruct

2. destroy, ruinverb

   destroy completely; damage irreparably

   "You have ruined my car by pouring sugar in the tank!"; "The tears ruined her make-up"

   Synonyms:
   demolish, destruct, bankrupt, ruin, smash, deflower, break, put down

3. demolish, destroyverb

   defeat soundly

   "The home team demolished the visitors"

   Synonyms:
   put down, demolish, destruct, crush, ruin, pulverise, smash, pulverize

4. destroy, put downverb

   put (an animal) to death

   "The customs agents destroyed the dog that was found to be rabid"; "the sick cat had to be put down"

   Synonyms:
   bring down, enter, ruin, disgrace, record, put down, degrade, discharge, lay, drop, unload, repose, set down, land, take down, demolish, demean, drop off, get down, destruct, place down, write down

Matched Categories

1. • Kill

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. deallocationnoun

   delete

   Submitted by Src.shreyan on April 14, 2022  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. destroyverb

   Synonyms:
   demolish, overturn, overthrow, subvert, raze, ruin, throw down, pull down, break up, sap the foundations of

2. destroyverb

   Synonyms:
   annihilate, quench, put an end to, bring to nought

3. destroyverb

   Synonyms:
   waste, ravage, desolate, devastate, devour, lay waste, make desolate, swallow up, ravage with fire and sword

4. destroyverb

   Synonyms:
   extirpate, eradicate, uproot, kill, slay, extinguish, carry off, root out, grub up, pluck up by the roots, cut up root and branch, strike at the root of, give a death blow to, scatter to the winds

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. destroyverb

   Synonyms:
   annihilate, undo, demolish, raze, desolate, devour, sack, dismantle, eradicate, exterminate, ruin

   Antonyms:
   conserve, preserve, perpetuate, spare

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:5.0 / 1 vote

1. List of paraphrases for "destroy":

   destroying, destruction, destroyed, ruin, destroys, demolish, annihilate, devastate, obliterate, wreck, crush, undermine, spoil, dismantle

Suggested Resources

1. destroy

   Song lyrics by destroy -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by destroy on the Lyrics.com website.

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How to use destroy in a sentence?

1. Frank Herbert, Dune:

   Humans live best when each has a place to stand, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things and what he may achieve. Destroy the place and you destroy the person.

2. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago:

   If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

3. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi:

   They are trying, with their barbarism and arrogance, to destroy the inheritance of humanity, the inheritance of Iraqi people and their civilization, [the] same way they destroyed humans, i want to send clear message from here in Baghdad, that we will preserve this human civilization and its inheritance, and we will pursue those who are trying to destroy it.

4. Retired Adm. William McRaven:

   If you want to destroy an organization, any organization, you destroy it from within. You destroy it from without. Then what you do is you convince everybody you're doing the right thing.

5. Westwood One:

   Its happening right before our eyes, and its going to destroy the country, as they try to push us into a socialistic economic system and destroy whats left of our constitutional system, its been a subterfuge to undermine our constitutional system, to undermine our capitalist system, and to create this almost zen-like support for this radical agenda -- which hasas its purposeto destroy many of our freedom institutions in this country.