annihilate
/əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/verb
annihilate is spelled A-N-N-I-H-I-L-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, annihilate means “To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in annihilate?
| Letters | 10: A-N-N-I-H-I-L-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 33,636th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is annihilate?
Annihilate appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 33,636th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce annihilate?
- UK /əˈnaɪ.ə.leɪt/
Annihilate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-annihilate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of annihilate
- annihilates present, singular, he/she/it
- annihilating participle, present
- annihilated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does annihilate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To reduce to nothing, to destroy, to eradicate.
An atom bomb can annihilate a whole city.
- 2
To react with antimatter, producing gamma radiation and (for higher-mass reactants, especially composite particles such as protons) lighter particles (such as pions, muons, and neutrinos).
- 3
archaicTo treat as worthless, to vilify.
- 4
To render null and void; to abrogate.
- 5
To cause to become zero by means of an annihilator operator.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Annihilate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | annihiler, anéantir, réduire à néant |
| German | vernichten |
| Portuguese | aniquilar , anular |
| Spanish | aniquilar, anihilar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does annihilate come from?
Borrowed from Latin annihilātus, perfect passive participle of annihilō (“to reduce to nothing”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad (“to”) + nihil (“nothing”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). See also an-.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).