exterminatory

Definition

Adjective:
- Having the purpose or effect of complete destruction: "exterminatory" describes actions, policies, or methods intended to exterminate — to destroy or eliminate a group of living things entirely. It is often used in contexts of war, pest control, or ideological campaigns.

Usage Examples

Advanced Usage

"exterminatory intent": a legal or ethical term referring to the deliberate aim to kill or destroy a whole group.
- The court found evidence of exterminatory intent in the general's orders. (The orders clearly sought total annihilation.)
"exterminatory campaign": a systematic effort to wipe out a species, disease, or population.
- The government launched an exterminatory campaign against the invasive rats. (The campaign aimed to kill every rat.)

Variants and Related Words

Exterminate (verb): to destroy completely; to kill all members of a group.
- The army sought to exterminate the rebel forces. (To eliminate them entirely.)
Extermination (noun): the act of destroying completely.
- The extermination of the pests took several months. (The process of total removal.)
Exterminator (noun): a person or thing that exterminates, especially a professional pest killer.
- We called an exterminator to deal with the termites. (A specialist in pest destruction.)

Synonyms

Annihilatory: causing total destruction.
- The bomb had an annihilatory effect on the city. (Complete devastation.)
Eradicative: intended to remove or destroy something entirely.
- The vaccine campaign was eradicative in nature. (Aimed at wiping out disease.)

Related Idioms

To the last man: fighting or destroying until no one remains.
- The defenders fought to the last man, but the attack was exterminatory. (The attack left no survivors.)
Wipe off the face of the earth: to destroy completely.
- The dictator vowed to wipe the enemy off the face of the earth in an exterminatory war. (Total annihilation.)