despoil

[ dih-spoil ]

verb (used with object)

1. to strip of possessions, things of value, etc.; rob; plunder; pillage.

   Synonyms: fleece, sack, rifle, divest, dispossess

despoil

/ dɪˈspɔɪl /

verb

1. tr to strip or deprive by force; plunder; rob; loot

Derived Forms

• deˈspoilment, noun
• deˈspoiler, noun

Other Words From

• de·spoiler noun
• de·spoilment noun
• unde·spoiled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of despoil¹

1175–1225; Middle English despoilen < Old French despoillier < Latin dēspoliāre to strip, rob, plunder, equivalent to dē- de- + spoliāre to plunder; spoil

Word History and Origins

Origin of despoil¹

C13: from Old French despoillier, from Latin dēspoliāre, from de- + spoliāre to rob (esp of clothing); see spoil

Example Sentences

“We are on the trail of a gang of international thieves who came to France for the purpose of despoiling our museums,” a police spokesman announced.

From Literature

Picturesque rolling hills, verdant pastures and golden fields of grain provide a deceptively bucolic setting despoiled by greed, treachery and murder.

From Los Angeles Times

Metaphors may have no place at a concentration camp, but it’s hard to look at this beautiful enclosed space and not see it, perversely, as the most despoiled of Edens.

From Los Angeles Times

Today, that environmental perspective, that sense of how we humans continue to despoil our planet in an ever more fossil-fuelized and dangerous fashion, is simply inescapable.

From Salon

Plastic, along with other litter, is also despoiling the landscape and polluting our waterways.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• denude
• depopulate