sabotage 1 of 2

as in destruction
the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately so that it does not work correctly Angry workers were responsible for the sabotage of the machines. Officials have not yet ruled out sabotage as a possible cause of the crash.

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sabotage

2 of 2

verb

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 sabotage
Noun
In 2018, Cerberus also purchased the only major U.S. business specializing in undersea fiber optic cables that transmit the world’s data—key infrastructure in the digital age, theoretically susceptible to espionage and sabotage. Dan Alexander, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025 Senior executives reported on acts of sabotage and did little to save their own Jewish colleagues. Sarah Federman, The Conversation, 16 Apr. 2025
Verb
Landau, however, sabotages that suffering, along with the character development of Floyd’s siblings Nellie (Lizzy McAlpine) and Homer (Jason Gotay), by having all three join the carnival choreography that starts Act Two. Sara Holdren, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2025 In one fictional storyline, one of the cardinals sabotages a competing cardinal up for the papacy by purposely placing a nun there who had a secret child with him. Caroline Blair, People.com, 22 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sabotage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sabotage
Noun
  • Now, some say artificial intelligence is ushering in a new era of creative destruction – but what exactly is being creatively destroyed, and what’s replacing it?
    Joe McKendrick, Forbes.com, 20 May 2025
  • Nineteen months of war, triggered by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed approximately 1,200 people inside Israel and took some 250 captive, has resulted in over 50,000 Palestinian deaths and the destruction of much of Gaza—including the systems that fed residents during previous wars.
    Juwayriah Wright, Time, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • After a strikeout, Luis Castillo hit a foul fly that Moises Alou jumped for, only to have his efforts thwarted by a fan making a play on the ball himself.
    Steve Svekis, Sun Sentinel, 18 May 2025
  • This is not the only recent livestock smuggling attempt thwarted at a U.S.-Mexico border crossing in California.
    Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2025
Verb
  • An embarrassing, humbling, shocking Game 5 defeat showed that. All the same problems, the ones that destroyed Leaf team after Leaf team and ultimately ended Sheldon Keefe’s time as head coach, are emerging again at the worst possible time.
    Jonas Siegel, New York Times, 15 May 2025
  • In order to retrieve the original source code of the Entity and destroy it, Hunt has to risk life and limb and dive into icy arctic waters to a sunken Soviet submarine teetering 500 feet underwater.
    Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
Verb
  • Alex Caruso, the 6-foot-5 defensive savant who spent so much of the evening frustrating the 6-11 Nikola Jokić, was the real MVP of the night (Jokić had 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting, with nine rebounds, seven assists and five turnovers).
    Sam Amick, New York Times, 19 May 2025
  • The naming practices can frustrate efforts to track the chemicals in food, to measure how much of the stuff people are taking in, and even to figure out precisely which chemicals a scientific study evaluated, researchers said.
    David Hilzenrath, CNN Money, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
    Tanasia Kenney, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
  • But that stumble constitutes Hwang’s only confrontation with the hypocrisy that ruins Yellow Face and its inherent PBS conceit.
    Armond White, National Review, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • When foiling, energy consumption is around 2.5kWh per nautical mile.
    James Morris, Forbes.com, 3 May 2025
  • Read on to find out more about all things mold, because this is your best shot at making sure your sandwich plans are never foiled by fungi again.
    Caroline Tien, SELF, 1 May 2025
Verb
  • His cabin was a few miles south of the one the bear wrecked for for me, closer to the fringe of settlement.
    Ted Updike, Outdoor Life, 22 May 2025
  • That meant late nights, early wake-ups, work events, and heels that wreck your feet, plus years of jet lag from endless travel.
    Jessica Sibley, Time, 19 May 2025
Verb
  • The officers did not show their badges until after she was restrained, the video shows.
    Hanna Park, CNN Money, 12 May 2025
  • While the Trump administration insists its actions are necessary for national security, legal challenges have underscored the power of the judiciary to scrutinize and potentially restrain executive immigration policy.
    Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Sabotage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sabotage. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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