as in extermination
formal
a usually violent act in which something is damaged or destroyed or in which a person or animal is killed
The town had somehow escaped the depredations of enemy soldiers.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation
Noun
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Now, some say artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era of creative destruction – but what exactly is being creatively destroyed, and what’s replacing it?—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2025 -
Significant destruction was reported in Grinnell, Kansas, where homes were flattened, roads blocked and vehicles overturned.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
19 May 2025
Noun
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There’s also the qualm that once the world realizes AGI has been achieved, perhaps mass panic will arise, or evildoers will seek to turn AGI toward global extinction.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2025
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The new administration can quibble with the technical points of the listing, Koch said, but that will do nothing to change the reality: The bird is at risk of extinction and needs to be protected.—
Benji Jones,
Vox,
16 May 2025
Noun
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Because the world keeps beginning and ending the same way, with the slaughter of the innocent, with the massacre of the blameless, and there’s not a thing anyone can do.—
Li-Young Lee,
The Atlantic,
11 May 2025
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Even after the slaughter of the animal, there’s no restitution for its owner or the audience.—
Laura Sirikul,
Forbes.com,
6 May 2025
Noun
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Raphael is a survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023 Nova Festival massacre in Israel, which was part of a surprise attack in which Hamas raiders murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped 250 men, women and children.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
13 May 2025
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India accused Pakistan of backing the militants who carried out the massacre, an allegation Islamabad denied.—
Rajesh Roy,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2025
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“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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