as in vandalism
deliberate damaging or destroying of another's property
the neo-Nazis' defacing of the synagogue was condemned by the entire community
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in vandalizing
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in marring
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
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of defacing
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
31 Dec. 2025
Nathan Ellgren,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2026
Two men from Germany were arrested after being accused of defacing a pride bench in Miami Beach with antisemitic symbols on Monday.
—
Steven Yablonski,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
No one in Florida had been charged with criminal mischief for defacing a traffic control device until the August arrests.
—
Cristóbal Reyes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
An inflatable effigy depicting Trump defacing the Constitution made its way through the crowd.
—
Nik Popli,
Time,
28 Mar. 2026
This exclusion protects the home warranty company from homeowners who may try to get replacements for appliances or home system components by defacing or damaging them purposefully.
—
Dan Simms,
USA Today,
23 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
Sohail faces federal charges of intentionally defacing or damaging religious real property, which carries a maximum three years behind bars.
—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
2 Mar. 2026
Assembly and free-speech rights would not protect defacing government property, such as barricades.
—
Taylor Seely,
AZCentral.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
The investigation into the racist defacing of the black professors’ portraits at Harvard Law School in 2015 continues into an eleventh year with no resolution and no suspects.
—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
Trump, in one of his Truth Social posts, cited laws against defacing monuments as grounds for imprisoning anyone harming the pool.
—
Nathan Ellgren,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2026
Two men from Germany were arrested after being accused of defacing a pride bench in Miami Beach with antisemitic symbols on Monday.
—
Steven Yablonski,
CBS News,
19 May 2026
No one in Florida had been charged with criminal mischief for defacing a traffic control device until the August arrests.
—
Cristóbal Reyes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
An inflatable effigy depicting Trump defacing the Constitution made its way through the crowd.
—
Nik Popli,
Time,
28 Mar. 2026
This exclusion protects the home warranty company from homeowners who may try to get replacements for appliances or home system components by defacing or damaging them purposefully.
—
Dan Simms,
USA Today,
23 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
Sohail faces federal charges of intentionally defacing or damaging religious real property, which carries a maximum three years behind bars.
—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
2 Mar. 2026
Assembly and free-speech rights would not protect defacing government property, such as barricades.
—
Taylor Seely,
AZCentral.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for defacing
Noun
-
The power loss, a culmination of lightning strikes at various substations and a failure to control power output, led to widespread looting and vandalism amid social and economic unrest.
-
The Tesla’s desecration follows a vandalism spree in Queens that saw religious centers, homes and vehicles defiled with swastikas and antisemitic slogans last month.
Verb
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San Francisco police said the Friday evening incident involved two people vandalizing property with spray paint in the area of Market Street and Eighth Street toward the end of the Trans March.
-
Cops are looking for a third suspect — a young man wearing a Knicks jersey — for vandalizing the taxi.
Verb
-
Lined with live oaks and old-fashioned, busy storefronts, this artsy town on the Gulf of Mexico has no commercial development marring its shoreline.
-
In Strasbourg, groups of Palace supporters clashed among themselves in a square in the city centre, marring the occasion.
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.
-
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.
Verb
-
Mexican fruit flies are one of the world’s most destructive pests when laying their eggs, destroying or damaging fruit such as apples, grapefruits, avocados, peaches and pears, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
-
But Blue Origin suffered a major setback in May when one of its New Glenn rockets abruptly exploded on the launchpad, destroying vital infrastructure that will take months to rebuild.
Verb
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Using X-ray and advanced sensors, PNNL scientists have been able to monitor material health without damaging components being tested.
-
How to Remove Deodorant Stains With Baking Soda Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and a mild abrasive that helps lift both fresh and set-in deodorant stains without damaging fabrics, says Sokolowski.
Noun
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Rodríguez said authorities have recorded 862 aftershocks since the main quakes and confirmed that 189 buildings collapsed completely nationwide, the vast majority in La Guaira, the coastal state that suffered the worst destruction.
-
Our previous card featured the fiery destruction of the Missouri Pacific depot in 1909.
Verb
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Digital Realty already began demolishing the inside of the building, so Gray believed the agreement was set.
-
But everyday people expressed their political outrage time and again, throwing rocks at and demolishing the houses of government officials, torching the king’s ships and forts and, eventually, marching to battle.
Cite this Entry
“Defacing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defacing. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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