EFFACING Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

effacing

verb

present participle of efface

as in erasing

to destroy all traces of when the supply ship finally arrived, it discovered that virtually all evidence of the colony at Roanoke had been effaced

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of effacing Their struggle has upturned the tabletop candle that illuminates the scene and any moment will surely extinguish it, effacing the giddy pattern formed by the writhing bodies and glowing, veiny bladder skin. — Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026 The leaps in time have the eerie effect of effacing time—the layered succession of images implying their simultaneity in Lidia’s mind. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for effacing

Verb

Treating those experiences as interchangeable risks erasing the sacrifice behind one of them.

— Angelette C. Aviles, Baltimore Sun, 19 Sep. 2026
After erasing a three-touchdown deficit in the second half, the Saints matched the Lions' touchdown in overtime and tried to win the game with a 2-point conversion that failed when second-year quarterback Tyler Shough's pass fell incomplete.

— ABC News, ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of erasing

Verb

Back then, researchers were focused on eradicating the New World screwworm, a nasty pest that lays its eggs in wounds on living creatures.

— Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2026
The quest for 500 million flies The only way the US has succeeded in eradicating screwworm is by breeding millions of flies, sterilizing them using radiation and dropping them in areas with infestations.

— Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of eradicating

Verb

Other positions of the Democratic Socialists of America party that have come under fire in the 2026 election cycle have included abolishing the Senate, closing prisons, and having corporations become owned by the government.

— Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Sep. 2026
Karishma Manzur, a medical scientist and first-time candidate, supported Medicare for All and abolishing ICE while declining money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

— Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of abolishing

Verb

Fox attorneys also accused executives at both Dominion and Smartmatic of destroying evidence in their respective cases, and sought sanctions.

— Maddy Lauria, NPR, 20 Sep. 2026
Because both sides can persistently generate concentrated effects without concentrating forces, destroying the enemy’s ability to keep fighting becomes harder.

— NADIA SCHADLOW, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of destroying

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effaces

effacing

effect

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“Effacing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/effacing. Accessed 24 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of effacing

verb

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