Definition

1. Verb:
   • To destroy / to ruin: To cause severe and often irreversible damage to something, leading to its complete or partial disintegration or loss of function.
   • To devastate / to ravage: To cause extensive damage or destruction, often on a large scale, such as to an environment, area, or a person's health or spirit.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Chiến tranh đã huỷ hoại nhiều thành phố. (The war destroyed many cities.)
  • Hút thuốc lá huỷ hoại sức khỏe của bạn. (Smoking ruins your health.)
  • Cơn bão huỷ hoại cả vùng duyên hải. (The storm devastated the entire coastal region.)

Advanced Usage

• The word often implies a process of gradual or complete destruction that leads to a state of decay or uselessness. It is stronger than simple damage () and carries a connotation of serious, sometimes moral or existential, loss.
  • Nỗi đau buồn huỷ hoại tâm hồn cô ấy. (Grief devastated her soul.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tàn phá (v): to ravage, to lay waste. Often used interchangeably with huỷ hoại for physical destruction, especially by natural forces or war.

  • Bệnh dịch tàn phá ngôi làng. (The epidemic ravaged the village.)

• Phá huỷ (v): to demolish, to destroy. A close synonym, often used for deliberate, physical destruction.

  • Họ phải phá huỷ tòa nhà cũ. (They had to demolish the old building.)

Synonyms

• Destroy: To put an end to the existence of something by damaging or attacking it.
• Devastate: To cause great damage or destruction.
• Ruin: To severely damage or spoil.
• Demolish: To pull or knock down a building; to destroy completely.

Related Idioms

• Huỷ hoại thanh danh: to ruin one's reputation.

  • Vụ bê bối đã huỷ hoại thanh danh của ông ta. (The scandal ruined his reputation.)

• Huỷ hoại môi trường: to destroy the environment.

  • Ô nhiễm công nghiệp đang huỷ hoại môi trường. (Industrial pollution is destroying the environment.)