as in vandalism
deliberate damaging or destroying of another's property
the neo-Nazis' defacing of the synagogue was condemned by the entire community
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of defacing
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
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
Anyone convicted of defacing certain sensitive surfaces, such as petroglyphs or rock art, faces steeper penalties.
—Outside, 27 Jan. 2026
Assembly and free-speech rights would not protect defacing government property, such as barricades.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Jan. 2026
The lyrics have the same anesthetized ennui as in emo rap and the new wave of online rock, but the beats are menacingly new and dead-set on defacing your consciousness.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, the people defacing Friend’s advertisements are expressing a much larger, inchoate rage at the broader AI industry, not just these plastic pendants that practically nobody owns.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Oct. 2025
If a student or college employee is found defacing or otherwise vandalizing the commemoration, the bill requires the institution to expel or fire them.
—John Toher, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
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
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
Anyone convicted of defacing certain sensitive surfaces, such as petroglyphs or rock art, faces steeper penalties.
—Outside, 27 Jan. 2026
Assembly and free-speech rights would not protect defacing government property, such as barricades.
—Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 27 Jan. 2026
The lyrics have the same anesthetized ennui as in emo rap and the new wave of online rock, but the beats are menacingly new and dead-set on defacing your consciousness.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 17 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, the people defacing Friend’s advertisements are expressing a much larger, inchoate rage at the broader AI industry, not just these plastic pendants that practically nobody owns.
—Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Oct. 2025
If a student or college employee is found defacing or otherwise vandalizing the commemoration, the bill requires the institution to expel or fire them.
—John Toher, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defacing
Noun
-
Excessive drinking—which often resulted in mischief and vandalism—was discouraged, with newspapers calling for greater discipline, regulation, and surveillance.—
Tim Brinkhof,
JSTOR Daily,
1 Apr. 2026
-
More recently, he was charged in January with vandalism and in separate cases in 2024 with threatening somebody with a weapon and misrepresenting his identity to an officer.—
Fedor Zarkhin,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Baumann testified that Evetts joined him in vandalizing the vehicles parked in the facility’s adjacent lot and breaking a surveillance camera.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
-
William Defoor, 26, was accused of breaking a window to enter Vance’s home and vandalizing a USSS vehicle, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press in January.—
Ryan Mancini,
The Hill,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Ancient lava fields can be seen as dark lunar maria marring the silvery lunar surface, which themselves are threaded with bright streaks of reflective debris strewn across the surface by violent asteroid strikes.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The demoralizing graffiti marring the main entrance to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 360 Lenox Ave.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
12 Feb. 2026
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
Verb
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Will Trump adopt Putin-style tactics by destroying power plants or even desalination plants in what could amount to an attack on the beleaguered Iranian people themselves?—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
-
In the weeks since, fears of a long-term occupation of southern Lebanon have grown, with Israel moving to establish a buffer zone in the area, leveling homes and destroying bridges over the Litani River, which connects the south to the rest of Lebanon, while taking control of what crossings remain.—
Chantal Da Silva,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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An asteroid the size of a house exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk with the force of 440,000 tons of TNT, damaging buildings and injuring more than 1,600 people, according to NASA.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
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The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building.—
Sam Mednick,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Sacramento County Parks Department says there's been a big increase in vandalism and destruction of the nature preserve due to unauthorized use of off-road bicycles and e-bikes.—
James Taylor,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
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After the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on.—
Ashlee Conour,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Plans call for demolishing the three-story former office building on the site and constructing a single-story, 30-foot-tall building containing approximately 26,000 square feet of event space, according to information shared by the village.—
Jennifer Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
31 Mar. 2026
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The city’s long-term plan calls for demolishing the existing facility and replacing it with a new permanent building.—
Karen Kucher,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Defacing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defacing. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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