RANSACKED Synonyms: 69 Similar and Opposite Words

ransacked

verb

past tense of ransack

as in plundered

to search through with the intent of committing robbery it was clear that the thieves who had ransacked the museum were professionals—they bypassed most of the exhibits and went straight for the vaults

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in searched

to look through (as a place) carefully or thoroughly in an effort to find or discover something I've ransacked the whole house for that book you lent me and it's nowhere to be found

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 ransacked At least 76 heritage sites and 20 museums have been ransacked by the RSF and run-of-the-mill thieves, officials say, carting off an archaeological haul worth more than $150 million. — Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026 Some tools were taken, the glovebox was ransacked and the passenger window was smashed. — Nollyanne Delacruz, Mercury News, 1 Sep. 2026 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 Neighbors say they're left shaken after an elderly couple was lured out of their home by thieves, who ransacked their house and stole from them. — Jermont Terry, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026 Two months later, local media reported that at least a dozen people ransacked another of the company’s trains. — Kiel Porter, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026 An extended statewide drought, hot and windy weather, and forests ransacked by pine beetles persist, making conditions ripe for fires. — Noelle Phillips, Denver Post, 16 Aug. 2026 People close to Machado were tortured and questioned about her whereabouts, and state agents ransacked El Bejucal, searching for clues. — Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ransacked

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

Definition of plundered

Verb

With the help of the NYU students, recent graduates and adjunct professor listed below, Times reporters searched the names of each victim and suspect in the court’s database to find related restraining order cases.

— Connor Sheets, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
In the days after the robbery, Triunfel looked up the police report on the case multiple times while off duty without authorization — and on Monday searched the NYPD database for his own name, according to the complaint.

— Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026

Definition of searched

Verb

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

Definition of looted

Verb

Contour Circuits, founded by Secor and former graduate student Jeremy Rurup, received a $150,000 Small Business Technology Transfer contract to advance the technology.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
At Micam, curation takes place in sections like the Emerging Designer event area, founded in 2018.

— Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of found

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

Definition of pillaged

Verb

Still, the family was shocked when their home was raided by Homeland Security Investigations and LAPD in August 2023.

— Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
After a nearly seven-week manhunt, police raided the Kohberger family home in eastern Pennsylvania, where Kohberger was visiting during holiday break, and arrested him in late December 2022.

— Kevin Fixler September 17, Idaho Statesman, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of raided

Verb

After a shock loss to the Arizona Cardinals, in which Herbert had one touchdown, one interception and was sacked three times, the QB dropped from third in the odds to out of the top 10.

— Hannah Vanbiber, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
In Nix’s four previous starts against the Chiefs, he was sacked a total of five times.

— Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of sacked

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

Definition of despoiled

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“Ransacked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ransacked. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of ransacked

verb

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