DEPREDATE Synonyms: 48 Similar and Opposite Words

depredate

verb

Definition of depredate

as in to plunder

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredate

Verb

In the sixties, artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Peter Saul had plundered lowbrow visual culture for elemental materials.

— Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
In fact, plundering England’s lower leagues is a rich source of unique goals, from Ballard’s spectacular effort to this cheeky one from Crewe Alexandra striker Josh March in their 1-0 League Two win over Northampton on Saturday.

— Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026

Definition of plunder

Verb

One looks to the story of the Haitian World Cup team, appearing in the tournament for the first time in fifty years, which has gathered expatriate players from the Haitian diaspora to play for that beautiful and utterly despoiled country, where many of them have never lived.

— Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
In the 21st century, oil extraction has become a serious threat to Ecuadoran Amazonia, with large swaths of forest, often located in Indigenous territories, despoiled by the release of wastewater from the wells.

— Stanley Stewart, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2026

Definition of despoil

Verb

Sudan’s civil war, a conflict credibly described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, has seen violence matched only by the belligerents’ rapacity in pillaging the country’s riches.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Most notable is how the Premier League’s most famous clubs increasingly pillage the internal market for reliable and proven talent, rather than taking bets on cheaper or further-flung bets from across the continent or beyond.

— Adam Crafton, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of pillage

Verb

Authorities are still investigating whether any of them may also have been looted during World War II.

— Sergio Farella, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Preliminary explorations indicate these burials were looted in antiquity; passages linking them are thought to have been made by ancient robbers moving between the tombs.

— Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of loot

Verb

Since 2020, Joe Burrow has been sacked a league-worst 10 percent of the time in openers and has lost four times, a league-high.

— Vic Tafur, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
The Ducks sacked Madsen three times for 15 yards, but their defensive front didn’t show too much attacking intent.

— Idaho Statesman, Idaho Statesman, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of sack

Verb

After Israel destroyed Jenin refugee camp during the Second Intifada in 2002, a young girl looked into Mohammad Bakri’s camera and said that Palestinians would live proudly as eagles and die standing like lions.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Sep. 2026
That’s because key refineries that produce it have been knocked offline or destroyed, both in Eastern Europe — where the Ukraine-Russia war still rages — and in the Middle East.

— Steve Kopack, NBC news, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of destroy

Verb

Supposedly posing a threat to their idyll on the outskirts are various marauding splinter groups running amok through the barren wasteland of the American Mountain West.

— Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Aug. 2026
Released onto a new continent, the cane toads marauded unstoppably.

— Kimon de Greef, Longreads, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of maraud

Verb

In the present, Kirk has to stop Reeger from wholesale slaughtering an entire planet, which involves beaming into the bowels of the ship to sabotage the ship’s phaser banks.

— Keith Phipps, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2026
As Reuters reported, a computer science college student in Texas named Sinan Can Demir discovered an attempt to sabotage some open-source software and posted a warning on the program’s page.

— Orlando Sentinel, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of sabotage

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.

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depreciatory

depredate

depredated

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“Depredate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredate. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of depredate

verb

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