decimated
adj.adj. severely damaged or reduced in number. You use this to describe something that has been almost completely destroyed.
adj. drastically reduced in number or strength; severely damaged. While historically referring to the removal of one-tenth, modern usage describes near-total destruction and is often used predicatively.
The local fish population was decimated by the oil spill.
After the factory closed, the local economy was decimated and many families moved away.
The once-thriving forest was decimated by a combination of invasive beetle species and an unusually prolonged summer drought.
Often follows a linking verb like 'be' or 'become'.
The population was decimated by 10%The population was decimatedIn modern English, decimated means 'mostly destroyed' rather than its historical meaning of 'one-tenth removed'; using it with specific small percentages can be confusing.