destroy – English verb conjugation

Nominal Forms

Infinitive: to destroy
Participle: destroyed
Gerund: destroying

Cognates

-

Indicative

Subjunctive

Conditional

Imperative

you	destroy
we	Let's destroy
you	destroy

Indicative

Conditional

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

to destroy

jazz

seriously damage

cripple, harm

To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.

annihilate

to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate

benothing, bewreck, blot out, blotto, erase, fuck, jazz, liquidate, nuke, pull down, ravage, remove, total, wipe off, wreck

To destroy; to destruct

demolish

To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.

devastate

To completely destroy (something) so that it no longer exists.

eliminate

To completely destroy; to put an end to; to extirpate.

eradicate

To bring a definite end to, finish completely.

exterminate

to destroy or abolish something

extinguish

To destroy completely; to annihilate.

extirpate

To remove completely, leaving no trace; to wipe out; to destroy.

obliterate

To demolish; to level to the ground.

raze

to cause the ruin of

ruin

To remove utterly; to eradicate.

uproot

to devastate or destroy

waste

To destroy (a large number of people or things); to obliterate.

wipe out

to put to death; to extinguish life.

annihilate, bag, bereave of life, blight, bring down, bury, cack, croak, crush, dash, deactivate, dead, demolish, dispatch, dispose of, do, do in, dust, eliminate, end, eradicate, exterminate, finish, finish off, flatten, lay waste to, make a way with, mortify, neutralize, obliterate, off, pay off, pick off, polish off, punch someone's ticket, put an end to, put down, put out of one's misery, put six feet under, put to sleep, ravage, rub out, ruin, scotch, scupper, scuttle, send to eternity, send to hell, send to the grave, send to the great beyond, send to the next life, smash, smite, snuff, squash, stiff, take, take care of, take down, take out, terminate, terminate with extreme prejudice, kill, torpedo, waste, wipe out, wreck

demolish

dissolve, consume, atomize, mangle, dash, decapitate, obliterate, sack

end

exterminate, annihilate, butcher, murder, slaughter, overthrow, eradicate, overturn

nullify

disable, invalidate

Antonyms

to construct

demolish, knock down, ruin, take apart, tear down, build, wreck

to reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate

build, construct, create, make, produce, rebuild, recover

to encourage, especially the growth or development of something

hinder, nurture

demolish

construct, rebuild, restore, mend

end

beginning, inception, commencement, inauguration

Additional Information

Phrasal Verbs

Etymology

1. c.1225, from O.Fr. destruire, from V.L. *destrugerie (infl. by destructos), from L. destruere "tear down, demolish," lit. "un-build," from de- "un-, down" + struere "to pile, build" (see structure). A naval destroyer was originally a "torpedo boat destroyer," though the name comes specifically from the proper name given to one such ship in the U.S. Navy in 1882.
2. From Middle English destroyen, from Old French destruire, Vulgar Latin *destrugō, from Classical Latin dēstruō, from dē- (“un-, de-”) + struō (“to build”). See: Middle English 'destroyen', Old French 'destruire', Latin 'dēstruō'.

Verbs referencing "destroy"

Esperanto detrui.

Sample Sentences