1
as in to eradicate
to destroy all traces of
the family's attempts to annihilate the roach population in their apartment had met with little success
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to destroy
to bring to a complete end the physical soundness, existence, or usefulness of
the tornado simply annihilated the family's home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to overcome
to defeat by a large margin
we didn't just win; we absolutely annihilated them!
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of annihilate
These particle pairs pop in and out of existence, rapidly annihilating each other.
—
Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 15 May 2025
Small amounts of antimatter are also produced by lightning during a thunderstorm but they are almost instantly annihilated by matter, Vaudo notes.
—Bruce Dorminey, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annihilate Hamas and return the 59 hostages still in Gaza — 24 believed to be alive.
—Isaac Scharf, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025
The crescent shape of the new condo tower and its jarring proximity, combined with the formerly soothing prevailing breeze, creates a wind tunnel that rakes across the north side of Building 3 and the driveway entrance, knocking down patio furniture, annihilating hairdos and slamming car doors.
—Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for annihilate
Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 15 May 2025
Small amounts of antimatter are also produced by lightning during a thunderstorm but they are almost instantly annihilated by matter, Vaudo notes.
—Bruce Dorminey, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annihilate Hamas and return the 59 hostages still in Gaza — 24 believed to be alive.
—Isaac Scharf, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2025
The crescent shape of the new condo tower and its jarring proximity, combined with the formerly soothing prevailing breeze, creates a wind tunnel that rakes across the north side of Building 3 and the driveway entrance, knocking down patio furniture, annihilating hairdos and slamming car doors.
—Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for annihilate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for annihilate
Verb
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Princess Eugenie is also the founder of The Anti-Slavery Collective, which endeavors to eradicate modern slavery, and helped establish Key to Freedom, a social enterprise initiative facilitating a route to market for products made by survivors of trafficking at Women’s Interlink Foundation.—
Janine Henni,
People.com,
22 May 2025
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Yeast overgrowth can often be eradicated with one dose of an oral tablet called fluconazole (Diflucan).—
Cheyenne Buckingham,
SELF,
13 May 2025
Verb
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a plea from a group of Native American activists and supporters to block a copper mining company from destroying an Apache religious site.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
27 May 2025
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During the week of my embed, the Russian military identified and destroyed a few of the Vampire pilots’ positions.—
Nataliya Gumenyuk,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2025
Verb
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Skubal overcame a Tommy John procedure in college and a flexor tendon surgery earlier in his big-league career to become one of baseball’s elite pitchers.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
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The odds remain against them — only 16.1% of teams have overcome a 3-2 deficit in NBA playoff history — but the Knicks are coming off their best all-around performance of the series.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
30 May 2025
Verb
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So, this should lower those percentage gaps in time, if not erase them.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
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The voices and contributions of women and people of color were overlooked and erased through much of America’s military history.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
26 May 2025
Verb
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In 2012, Texas Wesleyan went to the city’s historic and cultural landmarks commission seeking permission to demolish the home for further campus expansion, but were denied.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
6 June 2025
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Goldschmidt has demolished the NL Central in his career, with a slash line of .291/.388/.527 in almost 550 games played.—
Andrew Wright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 June 2025
Verb
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The authority said its preliminary assessment is that three excavators and six trucks were buried by the landslide.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 May 2025
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Years later, the two had a poolside sit-down at a Los Angeles hotel to bury the hatchet and the two-hour conversation still wasn’t enough to patch things up, Francesa said.—
Mark Morales,
CNN Money,
29 May 2025
Verb
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The initiative has its critics, who fear that abolishing property taxes would leave local governments without sufficient funds to support crucial public services.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 June 2025
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The latter is known for his misogynistic statements, and has promised to follow through on Mr. Yoon’s commitment to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family.—
Yejin Gim,
Christian Science Monitor,
2 June 2025
Verb
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There were missions that felt like a rally racing mini-game, asking me to navigate between timer-extending rings dotting barren desert ruins.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2025
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But Foxx lamented how the producer ruined his legacy after being arrested in Manhattan last September following a grand jury indictment.—
Mekishana Pierre Published,
EW.com,
3 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Annihilate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/annihilate. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
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