despoil
verb
de·spoil di-ˈspȯi(-ə)l 
despoiled; despoiling; despoils
transitive verb
: to strip of belongings, possessions, or value : pillage
despoiler noun
despoilment
di-ˈspȯi(-ə)l-mənt
noun 
Synonyms
- loot
- maraud
- pillage
- plunder
- ransack
- sack
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
The landscape has been despoiled by industrial development. the burglars despoiled the art museum in search of treasures they thought they could sell to a fence
Recent Examples on the Web Plastics will continue to despoil the oceans even if all plastic production halts tomorrow. 
Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 13 June 2022 Even a comparative smidgen of methane can despoil the climate. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2021 The 2008 financial crisis exposed the economic folly and moral bankruptcy of a system that relied on bribing executives with stock options to squeeze workers, bamboozle customers, despoil the environment and dodge taxes. Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2020 Farm Aid, like other companies, has rejected non-organic cotton that requires extensive use of synthetic fertilizers, soil additives, defoliants and other chemicals that despoil the land. Billboard, 21 Sep. 2020 Ms Ellmann mourns ecosystems despoiled by modern humankind. The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus. San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus. San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus. San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 See More
Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 13 June 2022 Even a comparative smidgen of methane can despoil the climate. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2021 The 2008 financial crisis exposed the economic folly and moral bankruptcy of a system that relied on bribing executives with stock options to squeeze workers, bamboozle customers, despoil the environment and dodge taxes. Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2020 Farm Aid, like other companies, has rejected non-organic cotton that requires extensive use of synthetic fertilizers, soil additives, defoliants and other chemicals that despoil the land. Billboard, 21 Sep. 2020 Ms Ellmann mourns ecosystems despoiled by modern humankind. The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus. San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus. San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus. San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English despoylen, from Anglo-French despoiller, from Latin despoliare, from de- + spoliare to strip, rob — more at spoil entry 1
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
despoiling 1 of 2
noun
as in plundering
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- plundering
- pillaging
- despoilment
- plunder
- pillage
- looting
- ransacking
- marauding
- depredation
- spoliation
- desecrating
- predation
- wrecking
- destruction
- desecration
- ravaging
- sabotage
- ravage
- sacking
- demolishing
- ruination
- trashing
- defacing
- ruin
- vandalism
- defacement
- demolishment
- vandalization
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- saving
- preservation
- protection
- conservation
- salvage
despoiling
2 of 2verb
as in pillaging
to search through with the intent of committing robbery the burglars despoiled the art museum in search of treasures they thought they could sell to a fence Synonyms & Similar Words
- plundering
- pillaging
- looting
- marauding
- sacking
- ransacking
- raiding
- combing
- raking
- burglarizing
- rifling
- harrying
- ravishing
- rummaging
- hunting
- breaking in
- stealing (from)
- ripping off