1
as in disfigured
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Dissimilar Words
2
as in mutilated
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Dissimilar Words
1
as in vandalized
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in damaged
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
years of wear had defaced the fine engraving on the coins
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of defaced
Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
This was not one website defaced for headlines.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Mar. 2026
And in the late 1980s, after Little Saigon found official recognition, freeway and street signs directing people to the community were frequently defaced and destroyed in disapproval, Hua said.
—Victoria Le, Oc Register, 17 Feb. 2026
As restoration work gets underway on an East Side mural defaced with spray paint, organizers say the vandalism has only motivated them to stand up stronger for victims of police violence.
—Annasofia Scheve, San Antonio Express-News, 3 Feb. 2026
In the entertainment capital of the world, promotional materials — including posters and signs at bus stops — for Melania have been defaced with Hitler mustaches, devil horns, and crude graffiti.
—Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2026
Not to mention an endless supply of bus-stop posters in major cities across America — which keep getting defaced and replaced.
—Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
Someone who should not stumble into this, who should not have to see the grave of her loved one defaced.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Just weeks ago, a medical office in West Boca Raton was defaced with a swastika and racial slurs.
—Elliott Broidy, Sun Sentinel, 27 Jan. 2026
Verb
Splatters of paint now dot the mural of Iryna Zarutska, the slain Ukrainian refugee, after an unknown vandal defaced the building at the corner of North Western and West Montrose avenues.
—Chicago Tribune, 4 Mar. 2026
This was not one website defaced for headlines.
—Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Mar. 2026
And in the late 1980s, after Little Saigon found official recognition, freeway and street signs directing people to the community were frequently defaced and destroyed in disapproval, Hua said.
—Victoria Le, Oc Register, 17 Feb. 2026
As restoration work gets underway on an East Side mural defaced with spray paint, organizers say the vandalism has only motivated them to stand up stronger for victims of police violence.
—Annasofia Scheve, San Antonio Express-News, 3 Feb. 2026
In the entertainment capital of the world, promotional materials — including posters and signs at bus stops — for Melania have been defaced with Hitler mustaches, devil horns, and crude graffiti.
—Nikki McCann Ramirez, Rolling Stone, 30 Jan. 2026
Not to mention an endless supply of bus-stop posters in major cities across America — which keep getting defaced and replaced.
—Benjamin Svetkey, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
Someone who should not stumble into this, who should not have to see the grave of her loved one defaced.
—Literary Hub, 29 Jan. 2026
Just weeks ago, a medical office in West Boca Raton was defaced with a swastika and racial slurs.
—Elliott Broidy, Sun Sentinel, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defaced
Adjective
-
The bodies had signs of binding the hands and feet, contortion of limbs, cut off fingertips and disfigured heads, according to Kaki.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Oct. 2025
-
For his role as Erik, the disfigured organist who haunts the catacombs of the Paris opera house, Chaney underwent a dramatic — and painful — transformation that involved pulling back his nostrils with piano wire to create a skeletal look.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The crowd stopped the congressional certification of Biden's victory for several hours, sent lawmakers running and vandalized the building before police regained control.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
-
The crowd stopped the congressional certification of Biden’s victory for several hours, sent lawmakers running and vandalized the building before police regained control.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Protesters also burned a police station and damaged a school and the offices of a local charity in Gilgit, according to officials.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Of what could be seen, however, open source intelligence analysts identified the IRIS Sahand, IRIS Sabalan, and IRIS Zagros as damaged, and the IRIS Makran as heavily damaged.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The team is running detailed simulations to understand how the system performs when signals are weak or distorted.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Scholars of immigration, media and criminal law say such a media campaign is unprecedented and paints a distorted picture of immigrants and crime.—
Huo Jingnan,
NPR,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
The United States destroyed a key Iranian naval base in the Straight of Hormuz, sinking many vessels present, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the shipping lane was officially closed.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Aircraft shelters at the air base to the north of the complex also appear to be damaged or destroyed.—
Victoria Beaule,
ABC News,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The issue, which can arise within minutes, is that no matter how careful, how neurotic, how cautious someone is, inevitably the shiny piano black plastic trim gets scratched, knicked, and or marred rapidly as a car is used.—
Joel Feder,
The Drive,
5 Mar. 2026
-
The Democratic contest was marred by voting issues affecting the state’s second-largest county, which caused confusion around ballot eligibility.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Central Park, for instance, has been reduced to a small, deformed square.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
4 Jan. 2026
-
As a result, his vocals have a kind of stately yet starry-eyed quality, giving structure to these deformed, cosmic beats from the internet abyss.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
One of his fingers looked mangled.—
Natasha Korecki,
NBC news,
14 Feb. 2026
-
After midnight, one evening in late January, a doctor ushered a young man with a mangled hand into her car and sped to a private clinic on the outskirts of Tehran.—
Cora Engelbrecht,
New Yorker,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defaced.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defaced. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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