SPOLIATION Synonyms: 33 Similar and Opposite Words

spoliation

noun

Definition of spoliation

as in predation

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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 spoliation However, the present tax system does not encourage conservation but rather encourages spoliation of our environment through greed and profit based on an income tax system. — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Oc Register, 5 May 2026 McGinnis’ lawyer said that was tantamount to spoliation — or destruction of evidence. — Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2026 During deliberations, the jury focused almost entirely on the spoliation issue. — Lars Daniel, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025 Last Friday, Damien Marshall and other King & Spalding attorneys on behalf of MSG filed a memorandum of law in opposition to Oakley’s motion for what are known as spoliation sanctions, meaning a punishment for failure to preserve relevant evidence. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 14 May 2025 An attorney who allows a client to continue using their phone risks spoliation as normal usage can overwrite or erase crucial data. — Lars Daniel, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for spoliation

Noun

Too often, environmental advocates insist on the elimination of poaching, logging, and other harmful activities while remaining wholly unfamiliar with the factors at play that lead to predation, neglect, and abuse of nature.

— Juliet Kinsman, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Sep. 2026
Their bigger size also reduces the risk of predation, making long-term maintenance more worthwhile.

— Venki Ramakrishnan, Scientific American, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of predation

Noun

The agency rarely gets involved to lethally remove a wolf who has been involved in depredation events, though this year the agency has intervened a few times.

— Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Not until early in the next century did Congress take on the depredations of Gilded Age plutocrats.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of depredation

Noun

In Nolan’s telling, his deceit and plundering portend the collapse of the Bronze Age—a foreboding warning about greedy, fading empires that feels a little too relevant.

— Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 16 July 2026
Some have traveled farther as part of colonial-era collections — as far as the British Museum — and been returned; a story unto itself about the plundering of the natural world in the age of empire, and institutions reckoning with their inheritance.

— Tom Page, CNN Money, 19 Mar. 2026

Definition of plundering

Noun

Following the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, burning, looting and other forms of mayhem broke out in Minneapolis and many other cities across America.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Sep. 2026
Much of it can be subsistence looting, with people selling antiquities because their livelihoods have been disrupted by war.

— Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of looting

Noun

To the family’s lawyer, Markus Stötzel, the case is a typical example of Nazi plunder in need of immediate restoration.

— Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 29 June 2026
The second — a fastball Horwitz hit about 100 mph for a double to right field — was the start of a Pirate plunder at Sutter Health Park.

— Sean Campbell, Sacbee.com, 18 June 2026

Definition of plunder

Noun

Homer may have viewed Odysseus’s deceit and pillaging as glorious.

— Luis Parrales, The Atlantic, 26 July 2026
Taking the Scenic Route Home After their successful sneak-attack pillaging of Troy, Odysseus’ comrade Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) and his men pack up and head back to Sparta.

— Whitney Friedlander, Vulture, 17 July 2026

Definition of pillaging

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spoliating

spoliation

spoliations

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“Spoliation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spoliation. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of spoliation

noun

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