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
  • Hearn has pleaded not guilty to a felony vandalism charge, which could carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
    — Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • Station 19 star Noah Alexander Gerry has been arrested on vandalism and graffiti charges.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 17 July 2026
Definition of vandalism
Verb
  • Japan has a law to punish vandalizing foreign national flags, mainly those displayed at diplomatic facilities, to avoid international disputes.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 July 2026
  • Others have resorted to covering the cameras with trash bags or vandalizing them.
    — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 9 July 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
  • Keeping your lawn and garden well-maintained can also help reduce grasshopper populations by destroying their breeding habitat.
    — The Spruce, The Spruce, 21 July 2026
  • But the Pentagon’s youthful set of avid desk-warriors forget that big hurricanes and regional weather events regularly disrupt waterfront facilities on the Gulf and East coasts, destroying worker housing and permanently peeling away shipbuilders.
    — Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of destroying
Verb
  • Engineers can spot a bad move inside a crowded virtual home before the machine risks damaging something or moving too close to a person.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 July 2026
  • Crowds of people—including the relatives of patients—stormed Ituri’s Nyakunde Hospital, throwing stones and damaging its perimeter fence on July 15, according to Reuters.
    — Rebecca Schneid, Time, 22 July 2026
Definition of damaging
Noun
  • In the end, scientists said, the destruction that follows is rarely an act of nature alone.
    — Syra Ortiz-Blanes, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026
  • Demand destruction is still mostly winning out over supply constraints.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 24 July 2026
Definition of destruction
Verb
  • Western Newspaper Union Building Plans filed with the city show that the project would include demolishing and replacing an existing building on the site.
    — Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 21 July 2026
  • Concerns over demolishing the Excelsior Club The decision to demolish has sparked tension with local preservationists and historians.
    — Claire Harutunian, Charlotte Observer, 16 July 2026
Definition of demolishing

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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 25 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of defacing for Spanish Speakers

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