Definition of "devastating"

“The whole world has a stake in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The security of commercial shipping lanes and global supply chains depends on it. And so does freedom of navigation worldwide. Make no mistake: conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be devastating.”

2023 June 3, Haley Britzky, Brad Lendon, quoting Lloyd Austin, “Taiwan war would be ‘devastating,’ warns US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as he criticizes China at Shangri-La security summit”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 2023-06-03‎