as in plundering
Related Words
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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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Aron Solomon on how the Meta AI copyright decision made libraries sitting ducks for AI plundering.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 June 2025
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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According to food-security experts, extreme malnutrition in Gaza, already high, skyrocketed after GHF took over; according to Netanyahu, the foundation failed to prevent looting by Hamas.—
Hana Kiros,
The Atlantic,
27 Oct. 2025
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The falls could become a place of learning, not of looting, as park manager Troy McCormick put it in 1994.—
Leo Bertucci,
Louisville Courier Journal,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While guarding this mysterious gorge, these good-looking sharpshooters inevitably fall in love and join forces to contain the marauding creatures.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
27 Dec. 2025
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Fearing the attacker’s return and marauding gangs, the family abandoned their home in a rural stretch of farmland and fruit trees and hid in the bushes.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
12 Dec. 2025
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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If Haaland isn’t my choice here, there should be serious consideration at The Athletic about sacking me.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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The defensive line took advantage of a weak Auburn O-line, sacking Arnold five times.—
Maddie Hartley,
Kansas City Star,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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As an alliance grew between senators and financial powers, public figures began profiting from real-estate speculation, slave trading, and overseas plunder—while masking their involvement.—
Zephyr Teachout,
The Atlantic,
22 Sep. 2025
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Reparations, long proposed as the only measure proportionate to the scale of racial plunder, look increasingly like a political, economic, and legal non-starter.—
Idrees Kahloon,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
Noun
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Federal wildlife agents confirmed the two depredation events, which took place Friday and Saturday, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.—
Dac Collins,
Outdoor Life,
1 Oct. 2025
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Despite years of sitting on the sidelines, the United States has an opportunity to reassert itself in seeking to end the depredations of the junta and advance the cause of democracy in Myanmar.—
Dan Swift,
Foreign Affairs,
30 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Despoiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despoiling. Accessed 8 Jan. 2026.
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