Havoc vs Devastate - What's the difference?
havoc | devastate |
widespread devastation, destruction
* Bible, Acts viii. 3
* Addison
:* {{quote-book
, year=1918
, year_published=2008
, edition=HTML
, editor=
, author=Edgar Rice Burroughs
, title=The People that Time Forgot
, chapter=
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To pillage.
* 1599 , , Henry V , Act I, Scene II:
To cause .
A cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.
* Toone
* Shakespeare
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.
To destroy a whole collection of related ideas, beliefs, and strongly held opinions.
To break beyond recovery or repair so that the only options are abandonment or the clearing away of useless remains (if any) and starting over.
As verbs the difference between havoc and devastate
is that havoc is to pillage while devastate is 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.As a noun havoc
is widespread devastation, destruction.As an interjection havoc
is a cry in war as the signal for indiscriminate slaughter.havoc
English
Alternative forms
* havock (e.g. in Milton)Noun
(en-noun)- As for Saul, he made havoc of the church.
- Ye gods, what havoc does ambition make / Among your works!
citation, genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=But when I had come to that part of the city which I judged to have contained the relics I sought I found havoc that had been wrought there even greater than elsewhere. }}
Usage notes
The noun havoc is most often used in the set phrase wreak havoc.Old Hungarian Goulash?, The Grammarphobia Blog, October 31, 2008
Derived terms
* play havoc, raise havoc, wreak havoc, cry havoc, break havocVerb
- To tear and havoc more than she can eat.
Usage notes
As with other verbs ending in vowel + -c, The gerund-participle is sometimes spelled havocing, and the preterite and past participle is sometimes spelled havoced; for citations using these spellings, see their respective entries. However, the spellings havocking and havocked are far more common. Compare panic, picnic.References
Interjection
(en interjection)- Do not cry havoc , where you should but hunt / With modest warrant.
- Cry "havoc", and let slip the dogs of war!