defaces

verb

present tense third-person singular of deface
1
as in destroys
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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in injures
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defaces
  1. destroys
  2. injures
  3. vandalizes
  4. damages
  5. demolishes
  6. mars
  7. trashes
  8. cripples
Verb
  • T cells, a type of immune cell that detects and destroys infected or abnormal cells, normally perform this inspection.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The white dwarf emits radiation and produces a giant gas bubble—the lion’s face—that destroys dust in its path.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of destroys
Verb
  • The heist goes wrong when one sister injures her back and ends up trapped on the second floor, setting off an increasingly frantic bid to get out before the homeowner comes home.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Early on in the clip, Jake Johnson’s former tennis star Dusty Boyd trips over the net and injures his wrist in a bad way.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 23 June 2026
Definition of injures
Verb
  • Anyone who vandalizes government property, fires guns around an ICE facility, or attacks a police officer can and should be charged with crimes.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 25 June 2026
Definition of vandalizes
Verb
  • The study also found that 28% of all meetings have long-lasting negative effects, and nearly half of the workforce (47%) actively damages coworker relationships by venting about their frustration after the fact.
    — Janine Schindler, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • So gadusol is this natural compound that some fish make, especially in their eggs, to protect themselves from that same ultraviolet light that damages our skin.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of damages
Verb
  • An $8,000 Ryvid Anthem or a $10,000 Maeving RM1S will deliver broadly similar urban usability, while the $12,500 Zero FXE absolutely demolishes it on power-per-dollar.
    — Utkarsh Sood June 12, New Atlas, 12 June 2026
  • The latest filing demolishes the timeworn claim that DOGE was infiltrated into Social Security in order to responsibly ferret out fraud and overspending.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
Definition of demolishes
Verb
  • Especially the guy who bangs a wrecking ball against the historic East Wing to make room for an incongruous ballroom monstrosity, who mars the sacred Oval Office with gold glitter and paves over the lovely Rose Garden.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Jacob Whitehead Homophobic chant mars Mexico’s win Before the World Cup, the Mexican football federation launched a campaign that featured the heroes of the country’s 1986 World Cup side.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of mars
Verb
  • In the video, the musician trashes an apartment, gets out of a cop car, and runs through a field at golden hour with spindly pylons in the background.
    — Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 24 June 2026
  • Continue reading … FRIENDLY FIRE — Biden's own team trashes Xavier Becerra as 'embarrassment' in takedown of CA governor hopeful.
    — , FOXNews.com, 8 May 2026
Definition of trashes
Verb
  • Federal illegality further cripples operations with banking and tax burdens.
    — Peter Su, Forbes.com, 20 June 2026
  • In the final version of the film, Furiosa captures Dementus, cripples him, brings him back to the Citadel.
    — Seth Abramovitch, HollywoodReporter, 17 June 2026
Definition of cripples
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.

Browse Nearby Words

defacers
defaces
defacing
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Defaces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defaces. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on defaces

Nglish: Translation of defaces for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All