wreak havoc

idiom

: to cause great damage

A powerful tornado wreaked havoc on the small village.

The virus wreaked havoc on my computer.

Examples of wreak havoc in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Transfers are wreaking havoc with college basketball. —

Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2024 Similarly, schedule changes can wreak havoc on your skiplagging plans. —

Harrison Pierce, Travel + Leisure, 31 Mar. 2024 After a dangerous storm wreaked havoc throughout Kentucky on Tuesday, causing damage to people's homes, vehicles and more. —

Marina Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 3 Apr. 2024 Severe thunderstorms and several possible twisters wreaked havoc on communities across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on Tuesday, prompting West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear to declare states of emergency. —

Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2024 Being bipolar has wreaked havoc on my life many, many times. —

Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Apr. 2024 The revelation wreaked havoc on the family, which sought years of therapy to heal. —

Janelle Griffith, NBC News, 24 Mar. 2024 The world has become more dangerous, with Russia invading Ukraine, Iranian proxies wreaking havoc in the Middle East, and China and North Korea testing American willpower. —

Matthew Continetti, National Review, 16 Mar. 2024 That overabundance of bacteria wreaks havoc on the host deer’s hide. —

Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 29 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wreak havoc.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.