devastate
DEV-uh-staytverbMeaning to destroy over a wide area; also, to overwhelm with grief or shock
Memory hook DE-VAST-ATE: a VAST field laid waste. A storm flattens a vast field of sunflowers in a single night, and the farmer drops to her knees; the storm has devastated her farm.
The hailstorm devastated the farmer’s whole field of corn.
In context The news devastated the team; after a season of hard work, they had been knocked out of the tournament because of a mistake on a single form.
Similar ruin, lay waste, crush, overwhelm
Opposite restore, rebuild, comfort
From Latin devastare, “to lay waste”: de- (completely) + vastare (to lay waste), from vastus (empty, vast).