1
as in to vandalize
to deliberately cause the damage or destruction of another's property
the principal vowed to get the punks who defaced the statue in front of the school
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to injure
to reduce the soundness, effectiveness, or perfection of
years of wear had defaced the fine engraving on the coins
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in vandalism
deliberate damaging or destroying of another's property
the defacement of the school's property ended up costing hundreds of dollars
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deface
Lucy Hodgman, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Mar. 2026
Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number.
—Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 10 Mar. 2026
Gabriele Regalbuto, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2025
After a while, sticky notes appear, written by someone else who’s not exactly pleased about the doodler’s defacement of the only astronomy reference work in the school library.
—Caroline Carlson, Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deface
Verb
Last summer, Zeevi, who owns an HVAC company in San Jose, told KTVU that the vans at his shop were defaced with swastikas.
—Lucy Hodgman, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Mar. 2026
Denilson Pires was arrested and charged with carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without an FID card, and defacing a firearm serial number.
—Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 10 Mar. 2026
Noun
Palombo learned of the complete defacement through private messages on his social media channels.
—Gabriele Regalbuto, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2025
After a while, sticky notes appear, written by someone else who’s not exactly pleased about the doodler’s defacement of the only astronomy reference work in the school library.
—Caroline Carlson, Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for deface
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deface
Verb
-
Twenty-two of those flags were vandalized in March 2025, prompting the department to replace them — and consider a more permanent memorial, the Idaho Statesman reported at the time.—
Rose Evans
April 4,
Idaho Statesman,
4 Apr. 2026
-
While some students and staff seemed to appreciate the bots, plenty more did not, taking it upon themselves to vandalize, harass, and knock the fellas over at every opportunity.—
Joe Wilkins,
Futurism,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That night, Kane was injured, and Carsley tried to pick the boldest, most talented team possible, with Jude Bellingham nominally up front, and Foden, Palmer, Gordon and Bukayo Saka in, too.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The conditions for the three people injured in the shooting wasn't immediately available.—
Siafa Lewis,
CBS News,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Excessive drinking—which often resulted in mischief and vandalism—was discouraged, with newspapers calling for greater discipline, regulation, and surveillance.—
Tim Brinkhof,
JSTOR Daily,
1 Apr. 2026
-
More recently, he was charged in January with vandalism and in separate cases in 2024 with threatening somebody with a weapon and misrepresenting his identity to an officer.—
Fedor Zarkhin,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Toxins build up and start to destroy the kidneys and liver.—
Jerome Groopman,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Renowned for its beauty and ability to attract butterflies, butterfly bush (Buddleia) can spread quickly and outcompete and destroy native plants.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Red Cross said the crash damaged the building and forced three families — a total of 10 people — from their homes.—
Eva Andersen,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Reports and satellite images later showed large parts of the city heavily damaged or reduced to rubble.—
Maliha Rahman,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Riverside has both a community center named for Chavez and a bronze statue — often the target of vandalization — on the Main Street pedestrian mall in the city’s downtown.—
Ryan Carter,
Daily News,
19 Mar. 2026
-
Police said officers from the 116th Precinct had been alerted to the vandalization in the neighborhood and found 11 different police vehicles, both marked and unmarked, with damage.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
13 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The project, which was announced by the White House in July, became a highly controversial undertaking when the East Wing was suddenly demolished to accommodate the 90,000 square foot ballroom.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The Panorama City facility is set to demolish its main ice rink, leaving athletes who use the center with a smaller, non-regulation rink.—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Their reunion tour — which was somehow not marred by any type of familial controversy — sold out stadiums around the world and overexcelled in every conceivable way, setting the template for what the future of band reunions could look like and solidifying their legacy.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
2 Apr. 2026
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Ancient lava fields can be seen as dark lunar maria marring the silvery lunar surface, which themselves are threaded with bright streaks of reflective debris strewn across the surface by violent asteroid strikes.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deface.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deface. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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