• 荒あらい — rough; wild (behavior/sea)
• 荒あれる — to become rough; to be stormy; to go to ruin
• 荒あらす — to devastate; to ravage
• 荒野こうや — wilderness; wasteland
• 荒波あらなみ — rough waves
• 荒地あれち — wasteland; barren ground
• 荒廃こうはい — devastation; ruin
• 荒業あらわざ — daring feat; rough trick
• 荒削あらけずり — rough-hewn; unpolished

荒 is built on the radical 艹 (くさgrass), with the phonetic part indicating the reading コウ. The top suggests overgrown vegetation; overall it evokes wild, uncultivated, rough places — and by extension, rough behavior or devastation.