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At one point in Frodo’s journey in The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien depicts an ancient statue overlooking a crossroads: “Its head was gone, and in its place was set in mockery a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted … in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in the midst of its forehead.” The statue had been vandalized by orcs, but the roots of vandalize have more in common with the name of a Tolkien hero. Vandalize comes from the noun vandal, which was originally capitalized and referred to a member of a Germanic people who lived south of the Baltic Sea and sacked Rome in the year 455 CE. This sacking is what likely led to the use of the lower-case vandal for someone who damages or destroys property. The Late Latin word for such a Vandal was Vandalī, a word probably borrowed from a Germanic verb meaning “wend, turn” that also gave rise to the Old English Ēarendel, the name of a mythological figure that inspired Tolkien’s creation of Eärendil, a mariner who wends his way across the sky of Middle Earth carrying the morning star.
Examples of vandalize in a Sentence
Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 10 Dec. 2025
When the allegations began circulating on social media Monday night, videos showed a crowd gathering on the high school campus, including some who reportedly vandalized the teacher’s car.
—Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Dec. 2025
The Georgia Historical Society marker, which was repeatedly vandalized with bullet holes and damaged by an off-road vehicle at its original location in rural southern Georgia, now forms the centerpiece of a new exhibit that includes testimony from Turner's descendants spanning six generations.
—Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025
There is a new plea for help finding the man who vandalized a community space in Charlestown last year, causing $100,000 in damage.
—Cheryl Fiandaca, CBS News, 5 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for vandalize
Cite this Entry
“Vandalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vandalize. Accessed 14 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
vandalize
verb
Legal Definition
vandalize
transitive verb
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