as in depredation
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Recent Examples of despoliation
From Central America to West Africa, Greece to Indonesia, Clapp serves up a stirring picture of the deliberate and surprisingly profitable despoliation of one half of the planet by the other.
—
Ian Volner, New York Times, 1 May 2025
For that reason, the Abraham Accords lie in tatters - a despoliation very deliberately aimed at by Iran and Hamas via October 7.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
For that reason, the Abraham Accords lie in tatters - a despoliation very deliberately aimed at by Iran and Hamas via October 7.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Landscape exists to register ideas, like dispossession or despoliation, but not feelings.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023
Related Christopher Ciccone watched from the Radio City green room, thinking of his father and grandmother, who, like millions of other TV viewers, would see the show at home and be stunned by what appeared to be the on-air despoliation of a bride — by herself.
—Mary Gabriel, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2023
Millions of investors are participating in the despoliation.
—Ian Frazier, The New York Review of Books, 19 Jan. 2023
Environmentalists, concerned about the despoliation of nature, have been lobbying for the concrete to be removed and the river rewilded, with new marshes and wetlands to green the city and mitigate flooding.
—Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2022
The book’s scope is comprehensive, documenting the grandeur and the despoliation of the region’s geography and the lives and spaces of its poorest—and richest—residents.
—Richard Rothman, Harper's Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021
Ian Volner, New York Times, 1 May 2025
For that reason, the Abraham Accords lie in tatters - a despoliation very deliberately aimed at by Iran and Hamas via October 7.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
For that reason, the Abraham Accords lie in tatters - a despoliation very deliberately aimed at by Iran and Hamas via October 7.
—Melik Kaylan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Landscape exists to register ideas, like dispossession or despoliation, but not feelings.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023
Related Christopher Ciccone watched from the Radio City green room, thinking of his father and grandmother, who, like millions of other TV viewers, would see the show at home and be stunned by what appeared to be the on-air despoliation of a bride — by herself.
—Mary Gabriel, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2023
Millions of investors are participating in the despoliation.
—Ian Frazier, The New York Review of Books, 19 Jan. 2023
Environmentalists, concerned about the despoliation of nature, have been lobbying for the concrete to be removed and the river rewilded, with new marshes and wetlands to green the city and mitigate flooding.
—Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2022
The book’s scope is comprehensive, documenting the grandeur and the despoliation of the region’s geography and the lives and spaces of its poorest—and richest—residents.
—Richard Rothman, Harper's Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for despoliation
Noun
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The mainstream consensus solidified: The robbery was karma, comeuppance, a corrective to all that vacuous extravagance and clueless exhibitionism.—
Ellen Cushing,
The Atlantic,
19 May 2025
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In real life, the encounter could have spun off in a number of different directions including a robbery, vigilante justice or a police response.—
Rocco Parascandola,
New York Daily News,
18 May 2025
Noun
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Such tactics included the extraordinary plunder and destruction of the Hundred Years’ War and the fire bombings of cities in World War II.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
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And two, even for the plunder of a smash and grab, that seems a sloppy hiding place.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Despoliation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/despoliation. Accessed 27 May. 2025.
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