spoliation

Definition of spoliationnext

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 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
  • The predation did not stop once Spitze was behind bars, court records show.
    Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Unlike 12 years ago, predation isn’t centred on a minority; 11 different Premier League clubs have lost players to the ‘Big Six’ since the beginning of last summer.
    Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • She was charged with depredation against federal property and destruction of veterans’ memorials.
    Liam Scott, Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Plus the farmers there see it as a useful depredation tool and the locals like the meat (more on that below).
    Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 12 Aug. 2026
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
Noun
  • Cabinet members reserve almost a fifth of the government’s vaccine stockpile for themselves, and the public reacts with mass looting and violent civil unrest.
    Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 25 July 2026
  • Efforts to prevent looting had been made even before the formation of the MFAA.
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 July 2026
Noun
  • The people who've made it out are telling us horror stories of mass killings, of rape and pillage of women and families.
    ABC News, ABC News, 9 Nov. 2025
  • Vikings, for example, used the extra daylight to sneak in a longer pillage sesh.
    Corey Buhay, Outside Online, 19 June 2025
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
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
Noun
  • Jude was painfully conscious of the despoiling of his creative talents.
    Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Spoliation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spoliation. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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