Did you know?
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
David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 13 June 2025
The protest was mostly peaceful, but tear gas and pepper ball projectiles were used after protesters threw rocks at officers and vandalized a federal building, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
—Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 June 2025
Some protesters have set cars on fire and vandalized federal property.
—Filip Timotija, The Hill, 10 June 2025
At least five Waymo self-driving taxis were vandalized by protesters who spray painted them with anti-Trump and anti-ICE slogans.
—Elizabeth Weise, USA Today, 10 June 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 20 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
vandalize
verb
Legal Definition
vandalize
transitive verb
Share