How does the verb pillage contrast with its synonyms?
Some common synonyms of pillage are despoil, devastate, ravage, sack, and waste. While all these words mean "to lay waste by plundering or destroying," pillage implies ruthless plundering at will but without the completeness suggested by sack.
settlements pillaged by Vikings
Where would despoil be a reasonable alternative to pillage?
In some situations, the words despoil and pillage are roughly equivalent. However, despoil applies to looting or robbing without suggesting accompanying destruction.
the Nazis despoiled the art museums
When is it sensible to use devastate instead of pillage?
The synonyms devastate and pillage are sometimes interchangeable, but devastate implies the complete ruin and desolation of a wide area.
an earthquake devastated the city
When might ravage be a better fit than pillage?
While the synonyms ravage and pillage are close in meaning, ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction.
a hurricane ravaged the coast
When would sack be a good substitute for pillage?
The words sack and pillage can be used in similar contexts, but sack implies carrying off all valuable possessions from a place.
barbarians sacked ancient Rome
When could waste be used to replace pillage?
The words waste and pillage are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, waste may imply producing the same result by a slow process rather than sudden and violent action.
years of drought had wasted the area
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 pillage
Noun
Byron is surveying rout and pillage, and the terrible ease with which the laws of civil society, such as respect for the elderly, are flung aside.—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 As fans should know, the state’s pillage people have other means of extraction.—K. Lloyd Billingsley, Orange County Register, 25 Feb. 2024
Verb
Noni finds him in Crete, where Lion’s crew of pirates, assembled from fighters from around the world, are currently pillaging and enslaving a town.—Kambole Campbell, Variety, 9 June 2025 There is no serious evidence of starvation in Gaza, and what food scarcity does exist can be attributed to Hamas pillaging and hoarding aid.—Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 12 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for pillage
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
Reparations, long proposed as the only measure proportionate to the scale of racial plunder, look increasingly like a political, economic, and legal non-starter.
In recent years, objects looted from Benin City by British soldiers in 1897 — commonly known as Benin Bronzes — have been returned to Nigeria, Asante artifacts have been returned to Ghana, and France has sent colonial-era skulls back to Madagascar.
—
Alexis Akwagyiram,
semafor.com,
3 Oct. 2025
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the casualties include protesters and bystanders killed by members of the security forces, but also others killed in subsequent widespread violence and looting by individuals and gangs not associated with the protesters.
Notre Dame fell 27-24 to Miami in the season opener, when Carr was sacked three times.
—
Shaun Goodwin,
Idaho Statesman,
2 Oct. 2025
Being sacked by Chelsea and then West Ham in less than three years is slightly different to winning league and European trophies and being a statue-level hero at three different clubs, or taking England to two major finals and making the national team likeable again.
Decades of despoiling water bodies have taken a terrible toll, filling water bodies with fetid algae that blocks sunlight and smothers the native seagrass beds that are a main food source for manatees.
—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
26 June 2025
Gaddis was an obscure state employee who was fired from his job last summer after leaking details of a secret plot by the DeSantis administration to despoil nine pristine Florida state parks with golf courses, pickleball courts and resort-style lodges — all to benefit his wealthy friends.
—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
17 June 2025
Share