French Conversation · Level 128
45 words
French word
anéantir
Pronunciation
IPA/aneɑ̃tiʁ/
Meaning
- verbdevastate
Example
La nouvelle l'a anéanti.
The news devastated him.
More examples
Sa mauvaise note a anéanti ses chances d'admission.
His poor grade destroyed his chances of admission.
Core concept
A force wipes out an opponent's power or a thing's existence, leaving nothing effective behind.
Common phrases
anéantir ses chances
destroy one's chances
anéantir la confiance en soi
shatter self-confidence
anéantir des espoirs
dash hopes
Similar words
accabler: To crush someone mentally with a heavy burden or severe blame.
bouleverser: To deeply upset someone and greatly disturb their emotional state.
écraser: To overpower someone through force or superiority and make them submit.
détruire: To completely destroy a physical object, leaving nothing of it.
Definition in French
Vaincre ou détruire totalement une personne, une idée ou une chose, au point de la réduire à néant.
Word origin
Anéantir descends from Latin annihilare, built on ad nihilum, 'to nothing', and is linked to French néant, 'nothingness'.
Usage tips
- Anéantir is a transitive verb, so the destroyed person or thing follows it directly without a preposition.