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 In June 1940, Nazis attacked the city of Orléans, burning an annex of its fine arts museum, known as the Musée Paul Fourché, which was subsequently almost entirely ransacked, likely by people on both sides of the conflict. — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 3 Nov. 2026 Hours later, vandals smashed scores of windows around the corner and ransacked stores as neighbors watched in horror from apartments above. — Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026 Investigators said guests would return to their rooms to find the rooms ransacked and items missing. — CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026 In Paris, luxury boutiques were ransacked and storefronts smashed. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026 Store windows in Paris, Nantes and Lyon were broken, but the stores weren’t ransacked and have since reopened. — Laure Guilbault, Vogue, 22 Oct. 2026 Widespread violence erupted across France over the weekend, as rioters and looters ransacked storefronts, clashed with police and set fire to municipal buildings. — Max Butterworth, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2026 Paris ransacked, looted, and set ablaze by hordes of rioters. — Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026 Protests leading to looting have resulted in more than 3,000 businesses and retail shops being ransacked. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ransacked

Verb

Military leaders on both sides have also plundered Sudan’s vast gold reserves, smuggling much of their takings out of the country.

— Mat Nashed, Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2026
Social media posts and merchant reports said luxury and beauty stores, including Sephora, Celine, Burberry and Louis Vuitton, were plundered.

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of plundered

Verb

Meanwhile, Trumpworld searched frantically for scapegoats to deflect blame that the electoral bloodbath was a rebuke of the president and his agenda.

— Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2026
The 70-year-old was bound with zip ties as the suspects searched for valuables.

— CBS News, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026

Definition of searched

Verb

Rioters looted stores and set fires to barricades in Frankfurt on Saturday as protests across Germany demanded lower living costs and better education.

— Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 1 Nov. 2026
In Germany, nighttime riots injured more than 100 police officers and damaged or looted stores; in Lisbon, Portugal, police forcibly cleared a housing protest encampment.

— Angela Charlton, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of looted

Verb

The Digest Lawmakers in Italy are examining a new bill to create a committee that will research provenance and facilitate the restitution of art and cultural items pillaged by Nazis and Italian police between 1933 and 1945.

— Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Shopkeepers who’ve found their livelihoods suddenly at stake wonder where the police were while groups looted and pillaged with impunity.

— Colette Davidson, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of pillaged

Verb

Known as The Max, the facility was at the center of a bribery scheme that led to the conviction of the former mayor of neighboring McCook, whose office was raided the same day as Getty’s.

— Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 4 Nov. 2026
An amateur historian has stumbled upon a provocative clue to the enduring mystery of what became of a notorious pirate who raided a royal Indian treasure ship centuries ago, implicating a co-conspirator whose name is familiar to many New Yorkers.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of raided

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 9 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of ransacked

verb

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