as in plundering
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in pillaging
to search through with the intent of committing robbery
the burglars despoiled the art museum in search of treasures they thought they could sell to a fence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despoiling
Noun
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Some have traveled farther as part of colonial-era collections — as far as the British Museum — and been returned; a story unto itself about the plundering of the natural world in the age of empire, and institutions reckoning with their inheritance.—
Tom Page,
CNN Money,
19 Mar. 2026 -
Living through the aftermath of Rome’s plundering in 410 by the Visigoths, Augustine keenly appreciated the fact that empires come and go.—
Brett Whalen,
The Conversation,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Certainly, its portrait of a futuristic society dominated by raping, pillaging youth gangs speaking a bizarre Russian-English hybrid slang struck a few different nerves — as did its tale of one teenage sociopath’s questionable reprogramming back into society after a stint in prison.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2025
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More than a dozen others immediately flooded the shattered entrance, pillaging the place — breaking display cases and grabbing thousands of dollars in jewelry.—
Jakob Rodgers,
Mercury News,
22 Dec. 2025
Noun
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On the streets of Saigon, there was widespread looting.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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Greece, home to an extensive repository of cultural artifacts, has long contended with the proliferation of counterfeits and the looting of archaeological sites.—
Tessa Solomon,
ARTnews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Quick attacks down the flanks Parkinson’s preference for a three-man defence means his team often look wide to find marauding wing-backs high up the pitch.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
7 Mar. 2026
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Ozzy Lusth is marauding through the jungle, Sandra Diaz-Twine is lunging out of a shelter, and Johnny Fairplay’s real grandmother fake dies.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The people who've made it out are telling us horror stories of mass killings, of rape and pillage of women and families.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Nov. 2025
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Vikings, for example, used the extra daylight to sneak in a longer pillage sesh.—
Corey Buhay,
Outside Online,
19 June 2025
Verb
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The confrontation went viral in December 2024, as cameras captured Gastineau confronting Favre in 2023 over Michael Strahan sacking the Green Bay Packers legend to break Gastineau's single-season sack record.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
17 Mar. 2026
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So Green can go back to sad-sacking and triple-singling starting Saturday against the Thunder, and certainly Monday against the Jazz.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Critics contend the industry plunders distressed companies, leading to downsizing and cost-cutting that hurts local communities, though other research has pushed back on that reputation.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
28 Mar. 2026
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Through its parallel plots of love and guilt and plunder and destruction and rescue, one particular idea, one particular love, runs like a mighty stream: the passionate ties between Jews and books.—
Cathleen Schine,
The New York Review of Books,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Federal prosecutors charged Castillo with depredation of government property.—
Brandon Downs,
CBS News,
15 Apr. 2026
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Colorado’s wolf depredation compensation program is the broadest in the country, Sedgeley said.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
14 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Despoiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despoiling. Accessed 22 Apr. 2026.
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