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defacing 1 of 2

noun

as in vandalism
deliberate damaging or destroying of another's property the neo-Nazis' defacing of the synagogue was condemned by the entire community

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

defacing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of deface
1
as in vandalizing
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in marring
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

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.
Recent Examples of defacing
Noun
The investigation into the racist defacing of the black professors’ portraits at Harvard Law School in 2015 continues into an eleventh year with no resolution and no suspects. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
Verb
Trump, in one of his Truth Social posts, cited laws against defacing monuments as grounds for imprisoning anyone harming the pool. — Nathan Ellgren, Chicago Tribune, 22 June 2026 Two men from Germany were arrested after being accused of defacing a pride bench in Miami Beach with antisemitic symbols on Monday. — Steven Yablonski, CBS News, 19 May 2026 No one in Florida had been charged with criminal mischief for defacing a traffic control device until the August arrests. — Cristóbal Reyes, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 Apr. 2026 An inflatable effigy depicting Trump defacing the Constitution made its way through the crowd. — Nik Popli, Time, 28 Mar. 2026 This exclusion protects the home warranty company from homeowners who may try to get replacements for appliances or home system components by defacing or damaging them purposefully. — Dan Simms, USA Today, 23 Mar. 2026 Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number. — Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 10 Mar. 2026 Sohail faces federal charges of intentionally defacing or damaging religious real property, which carries a maximum three years behind bars. — John Annese, New York Daily News, 2 Mar. 2026 Assembly and free-speech rights would not protect defacing government property, such as barricades. — Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defacing
  1. vandalism
  2. vandalizing
  3. marring
  4. vandalization
  5. destroying
  6. damaging
  7. destruction
  8. demolishing
Noun
  • The woman, Antonieta Sanchez, 53, of Redlands, was booked into the Southwest Detention Center on suspicion of felony vandalism and brandishing a weapon, Vickers wrote in an email.
    — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Lopes was accused of attacking and killing Chesna while he was being arrested for vandalism and erratic driving.
    — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of vandalism
Verb
  • That would let prosecutors ask a grand jury to charge Hearn again if new evidence were discovered implicating him in vandalizing the pool.
    — Dan Mangan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2026
  • However, charges were dropped against several people accused of vandalizing the pool.
    — Mike Stunson, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of vandalizing
Verb
  • To prevent a similar war from happening again, Menelaus scarred her face, permanently marring her famous beauty.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 18 July 2026
  • Lined with live oaks and old-fashioned, busy storefronts, this artsy town on the Gulf of Mexico has no commercial development marring its shoreline.
    — Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 16 June 2026
Definition of marring
Noun
  • Riverside has both a community center named for Chavez and a bronze statue — often the target of vandalization — on the Main Street pedestrian mall in the city’s downtown.
    — Ryan Carter, Daily News, 19 Mar. 2026
  • Police said officers from the 116th Precinct had been alerted to the vandalization in the neighborhood and found 11 different police vehicles, both marked and unmarked, with damage.
    — Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 13 Nov. 2025
Definition of vandalization
Verb
  • Sonil Jain, Co-founder of Sowtex and ReMaterial, noted that for a fabric exporter trading with Russia, Brazil, or the UAE, there were many possible benefits, including cheaper, faster B2B settlements without dollar-clearing fees destroying margins.
    — Mayu Saini, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Some put the chance of AI destroying everyone, everywhere, all at once at around 50%.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of destroying
Verb
  • You can often get prequalified to get a sense of the rate and term a lender is likely to approve you for, without damaging your credit score.
    — Dan Avery,Brett Holzhauer, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Zelensky said that a passenger train was also struck in the Mykolaiv region on Wednesday, damaging a railway station and a diesel locomotive.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of damaging
Noun
  • The terrorism committed by Hamas on October 7 and the subsequent destruction of Gaza by Israeli forces are not the same.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Whether destruction or technological progress, both are purposeful activities, each with different conceptions of success or failure.
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of destruction
Verb
  • One drone operator talks about going out for lunch or hanging out with their friends in Tel Aviv after demolishing people’s houses in Gaza from miles away.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
  • At Cordova Villa Elementary, construction includes demolishing the existing administration building and a classroom building.
    — Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of demolishing

Browse Nearby Words

defaces
defacing
de facto
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Cite this Entry

“Defacing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defacing. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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