as in plundering
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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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of despoiling
Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
Noun
Jude was painfully conscious of the despoiling of his creative talents.
—Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
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
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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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Then Joe Biden and his corrupt administration comes along and makes matters worse, allowing thousands of criminals to enter our country illegally, pillaging Americans while being pampered in luxury hotels on our dime.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
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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
Noun
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The looting report in Haaretz follows several other misconduct complaints against Israeli soldiers in Lebanon.—
Max Saltman,
CNN Money,
26 Apr. 2026
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Spiegelman uses the term micro-looting, dressing up petty theft in political pretensions.—
Thomas Chatterton Williams,
The Atlantic,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The war ends, and marauding Russians confiscate the family estate.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2026
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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
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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Downing Street moved swiftly late on Thursday to try to quash the scandal, sacking the Foreign Office’s top official, Olly Robbins.—
Reuters,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2026
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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
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
Cite this Entry
“Despoiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despoiling. Accessed 29 Apr. 2026.
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