defaces

verb

present tense third-person singular of deface
1
as in destroys
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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in injures
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of years of wear had defaced the fine engraving on the coins

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defaces
  1. destroys
  2. injures
  3. vandalizes
  4. damages
  5. demolishes
  6. mars
  7. trashes
  8. cripples
Verb
  • Zeus obliges, striking their ship with a thunderbolt that destroys it and kills every member of Odysseus’ crew except the king himself.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 20 July 2026
  • Zeus destroys Odysseus’ last ship, killing his crew and leaving Odysseus as the only survivor.
    — Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026
Definition of destroys
Verb
  • Early on in the clip, Jake Johnson’s former tennis star Dusty Boyd trips over the net and injures his wrist in a bad way.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 23 June 2026
  • Who is responsible when a robot breaks something or injures someone?
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 June 2026
Definition of injures
Verb
  • Anyone who vandalizes government property, fires guns around an ICE facility, or attacks a police officer can and should be charged with crimes.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 25 June 2026
Definition of vandalizes
Verb
  • What homeowners insurance covers after wildfire smoke exposure If wildfire smoke damages your property, homeowners insurance is typically the first place to turn.
    — Faith Wakefield, USA Today, 20 July 2026
  • The lenses are replaceable, too, in case a bad fall damages them.
    — Brad Bourque, The Verge, 18 July 2026
Definition of damages
Verb
  • An $8,000 Ryvid Anthem or a $10,000 Maeving RM1S will deliver broadly similar urban usability, while the $12,500 Zero FXE absolutely demolishes it on power-per-dollar.
    — Utkarsh Sood June 12, New Atlas, 12 June 2026
  • The latest filing demolishes the timeworn claim that DOGE was infiltrated into Social Security in order to responsibly ferret out fraud and overspending.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
Definition of demolishes
Verb
  • Especially the guy who bangs a wrecking ball against the historic East Wing to make room for an incongruous ballroom monstrosity, who mars the sacred Oval Office with gold glitter and paves over the lovely Rose Garden.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Jacob Whitehead Homophobic chant mars Mexico’s win Before the World Cup, the Mexican football federation launched a campaign that featured the heroes of the country’s 1986 World Cup side.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of mars
Verb
  • In the video, the musician trashes an apartment, gets out of a cop car, and runs through a field at golden hour with spindly pylons in the background.
    — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026
  • Continue reading … FRIENDLY FIRE — Biden's own team trashes Xavier Becerra as 'embarrassment' in takedown of CA governor hopeful.
    — , FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026
Definition of trashes
Verb
  • Federal illegality further cripples operations with banking and tax burdens.
    — Peter Su, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026
  • In the final version of the film, Furiosa captures Dementus, cripples him, brings him back to the Citadel.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 17 June 2026
Definition of cripples
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

defacers
defaces
defacing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Defaces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defaces. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on defaces

Nglish: Translation of defaces for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of parochial

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Every Letter Is Silent, Sometimes: A-Z List of Examples
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
chain-question-mark
Missing Link Quiz July 2026 Five seconds to figure out the word that fits bot...
See All