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
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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If peaceable trading isn't your dream, consider the corsair life, pillaging other ships for their precious cargo.—
Alan Bradley,
Space.com,
7 Oct. 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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They were ambushed, and Pauline was killed by stray gunfire from marauding mobsters hell-bent on killing Buford.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
The Tennessean,
9 Sep. 2025
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Great Britain continues to mourn MP Jo Cox, stabbed and shot to death last Thursday on the first anniversary of white supremacist Dylann Roof’s marauding at the Emanuel Church in Charleston.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 June 2016
Noun
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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
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Otherwise, illicit actors will continue to profit from their pillage.—
Justyna Gudzowska,
Foreign Affairs,
2 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 9 Nov. 2025.
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