looted

past tense of loot
as in plundered
to search through with the intent of committing robbery the bandits looted the archaeological dig before riding off into the night

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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 looted Authorities are still investigating whether any of them may also have been looted during World War II. Sergio Farella, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026 Preliminary explorations indicate these burials were looted in antiquity; passages linking them are thought to have been made by ancient robbers moving between the tombs. Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 31 Aug. 2026 Police say the home was looted of items that included artwork, jewelry, electronics and business documents. David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026 Russian forces have routinely looted Ukrainian cultural objects during the course of the war, which has been going on for over four years. News Desk, Artforum, 25 Aug. 2026 But his house had been looted, his belongings, including two decades’ worth of journals, redistributed or destroyed. Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 Los Angeles County deputies say that an AutoZone in East Los Angeles was found looted early Saturday morning, near the spot where a street takeover had taken place. Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026 And in May, the Musée D'Orsay in Paris opened a permanent gallery dedicated to paintings and sculptures by the likes of Degas, Rodin and Renoir that are thought to have been looted. Chloe Veltman, NPR, 9 Aug. 2026 Towns on the region’s fertile lowlands, once inhabited by Azerbaijani farmers and traders, were abandoned, then they were looted, landmined and turned into military buffer zones. Literary Hub, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for looted
Verb
  • In the sixties, artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Peter Saul had plundered lowbrow visual culture for elemental materials.
    Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The class-action deal covers relatives of people who donated bodies between January 2018 and March 2023, amid uncertainty over which cadavers Lodge plundered before cremation or return to families.
    Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • But Nolan also throws a meditative new wrinkle into the story, as Odysseus comes to grips with his role in the Trojan War, leading the charge as his men raped, murdered and pillaged in his name.
    Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 18 July 2026
  • For decades, tomb raiders have pillaged sites across the country, selling them on the black market.
    Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Money, 19 June 2026
Verb
  • Fields rushed for 88 yards and three touchdowns but was sacked twice in the second half.
    Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Darnold was sacked only 27 times during the regular season in 2025, compared to 50 for previous starter Geno Smith in 2024.
    Andrew Destin, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Police raided the home several times but failed to find the painting.
    Sergio Farella, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Thieves on Thursday raided the Treasure of Villena -- one of the greatest Bronze Age gold collections -- at a museum in the Spanish city of Villena, taking most of the 50-plus mainly gold bracelets, bowls, bottles and other items on display.
    CBS News, CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • One looks to the story of the Haitian World Cup team, appearing in the tournament for the first time in fifty years, which has gathered expatriate players from the Haitian diaspora to play for that beautiful and utterly despoiled country, where many of them have never lived.
    Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 21 June 2026
  • In the 21st century, oil extraction has become a serious threat to Ecuadoran Amazonia, with large swaths of forest, often located in Indigenous territories, despoiled by the release of wastewater from the wells.
    Stanley Stewart, Travel + Leisure, 10 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • Thieves ransacked Spain‘s Villena Museum, taking with them one of Europe’s most significant Bronze Age gold collections in a record four-minute heist on Thursday morning, the Guardian reported.
    Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 27 Aug. 2026
  • In the days after a group of South Florida friends were killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya, burglars ransacked the Coral Gables home of two of the dead, stealing more than $500,000 worth of artwork, jewelry and the couple’s cars, police say.
    David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Looted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/looted. Accessed 8 Sep. 2026.

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