Synonyms of deface

deface

verb

di-ˈfās 

1

as in to vandalize

to deliberately cause the damage or destruction of another's property

the principal vowed to get the punks who defaced the statue in front of the school

Synonyms & Similar Words

• vandalize
• destroy
• demolish
• ruin
• smash
• violate
• damage
• trash
• desecrate
• break
• wreck
• impair
• harm
• hurt
• mar
• shatter
• spoil
• sack
• sabotage
• tag
• ravage
• raze
• graffiti
• waste
• despoil
• annihilate
• loot
• devastate
• wipe out
• plunder
• pillage
• ransack
• wrack
• scourge
• tear down
• total
• bang up
• maraud
• raven
• depredate
• spoliate

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• protect
• preserve
• save
• conserve
• build
• salvage
• rebuild

2

as in to injure

to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of

years of wear had defaced the fine engraving on the coins

Synonyms & Similar Words

• injure
• damage
• mar
• cripple
• hurt
• weaken
• disfigure
• compromise
• spoil
• impair
• destroy
• erode
• harm
• break
• bloody
• ruin
• undermine
• vitiate
• flaw
• blemish
• cross (up)
• shatter
• crab
• deteriorate
• wound
• demolish
• tarnish
• scour
• wear (away)
• endamage
• enfeeble
• wreck
• mutilate
• batter
• blight
• smash
• dent
• maim
• devastate
• wash out
• enervate
• disable
• botch
• raze
• lacerate
• annihilate
• ding
• mangle
• pulverize
• crush
• waste
• torture
• decimate
• gum (up)
• desolate
• wipe out
• queer
• clobber
• torment
• dint
• bash
• scourge
• hamstring
• tear down
• total
• dash
• do in
• lame
• bang up

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• reconstruct
• repair
• rebuild
• patch
• renovate
• fix
• help
• revamp
• mend
• rehabilitate
• heal
• rectify
• revise
• recondition
• cure
• remedy
• edit
• improve
• enhance
• remodel
• better
• doctor
• enrich
• perfect
• refine
• ameliorate
• meliorate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of deface

The cemetery, created in 1859, was abandoned and defaced before becoming the property of the county in 1967. — Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 4 June 2026

At least three campaign signs for Sacramento City Council candidate Jenn Chawla were defaced with racist slurs over the weekend. — Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 18 May 2026

These public acts were meant not only to deface property, but to send a message of intimidation. — Laurence Milstein, Sun Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2026

In Australia, synagogues were firebombed, cars torched and Jewish community buildings defaced – the types of attacks recently seen in the United Kingdom that have prompted calls for a crackdown on antisemitism. — Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2026