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
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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
After the Broncos’ frontmen pillaged San Francisco for the better part of two hours, Castle Rock native and 49er Christian McCaffrey stood in front of reporters and confirmed what Denver’s offense has known for a few months.—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 7 Aug. 2025 The Mountain West has subsequently pillaged lower levels for new members, and the domino effect has left many mid-majors in a state of unease at best, total disarray and panic at worst.—Jim Root, New York Times, 1 Aug. 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.
Stroud has been susceptible to a pass rush, having been sacked 52 times last season and 15 so far this season — a pace that would have him on his back 42 1/2 times in 2025.
—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
23 Oct. 2025
And Jones did deserve to celebrate given Rodgers wasn’t sacked once despite the loss.
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
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