zerstören
German, verb
zerstören is spelled Z-E-R-S-T-Ö-R-E-N (9 letters) and appears 19 times per million words in written German, the 4,037th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Zerstören is a German verb meaning “to destroy, demolish, devastate, eliminate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With a capital, Zerstören is a different word: “gerund of zerstören”. The German Wiktionary defines it as “etwas sehr stark beschädigen und (damit meist) unbrauchbar machen”.
What does zerstören mean in English?
verb
- 1
to destroy, demolish, devastate, eliminate
Der Alkohol hat seine Gesundheit zerstört.
- 2
to dispel
die Illusion der Unverwundbarkeit zerstören
noun
- 1
neutergerund of zerstören
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
verb: 1. etwas sehr stark beschädigen und (damit meist) unbrauchbar machen 2. zunichtemachen, zugrunde richten, zerrütten
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of zerstören
- zerstört present singular third-person
- zerstörte past
- haben auxiliary
- zerstörend participle present
- zerstöre first-person indicative present
- zerstörst indicative present second-person
- zerstörest second-person singular subjunctive
- zerstöret plural second-person subjunctive
- zerstörten first-person indicative plural
- zerstörtest indicative preterite second-person
- zerstörtet indicative plural preterite
- zerstör imperative second-person singular
- habe zerstört first-person indicative multiword-construction
- haben zerstört first-person indicative multiword-construction
- zerstör! imperative singular
- zerstöre! imperative singular
- zerstört! imperative plural
- zerstört haben active infinitive perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to zerstören
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is zerstören in German?
zerstören appears 19 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).