pillage

1 of 2

noun

pil·​lage ˈpi-lij 

1

: the act of looting or plundering especially in war

2

: something taken as booty

pillage

2 of 2

verb

pillaged; pillaging

transitive verb

: to plunder ruthlessly : loot

intransitive verb

: to take booty

pillager noun

Did you know?

The Various Uses of Pilfer

Pilfer is a synonym of steal, but it typically implies a particular kind of stealing. What is pilfered is usually stolen stealthily—furtively, so that no one will notice—in small amounts and often again and again. One might, for example, pilfer cookies from a cookie jar until a plentiful supply has dwindled to nothing. The word is sometimes used for that kind of stealing: the stealthy and gradual stealing of something that isn't worth much anyway:

Money was tight enough that Dickey's family used silverware pilfered from the local Western Sizzlin….
— L. Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated 2 Apr. 2012

But it is also used when the stolen things are valuable indeed, and the act of pilfering a serious criminal act:

For generations, scavengers have prowled this city with impunity, pouncing on abandoned properties and light poles to pilfer steel, copper and other metals they could trade for cash at scrapyards. The practice left tens of thousands of buildings so damaged that they could not be restored, turning places like the North End into grim cityscapes that appeared to have been ravaged by a tornado.
— John Eligon, The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2015

Pilfer may remind one of a similar also-serious word: pillage. The two words share more than a first syllable; pilfer comes from an old word meaning "booty" (as in, things that are stolen or taken by force, especially during a war) and pillage means "to take things from a place by force especially during a war." But despite their similarities, the words in modern use are very different. Pilfer has long since shed the connotations of violence in its etymological past; what's pilfered is not taken violently. Pillage, on the other hand, remains firmly rooted in violence and especially war; it is not a term you apply when someone's been sneaking cookies from a cookie jar.

Synonyms

Noun

• booty
• loot
• plunder
• spoil
• swag

Verb

• despoil
• loot
• maraud
• plunder
• ransack
• sack

Choose the Right Synonym for pillage

ravage, devastate, waste, sack, pillage, despoil mean to lay waste by plundering or destroying.

ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction.

a hurricane ravaged the coast

devastate implies the complete ruin and desolation of a wide area.

an earthquake devastated the city

waste may imply producing the same result by a slow process rather than sudden and violent action.

years of drought had wasted the area

sack implies carrying off all valuable possessions from a place.

barbarians sacked ancient Rome

pillage implies ruthless plundering at will but without the completeness suggested by sack.

settlements pillaged by Vikings

despoil applies to looting or robbing without suggesting accompanying destruction.

the Nazis despoiled the art museums

Examples of pillage in a Sentence

Noun

the pirate ship was laden with the pillage of merchant ships from across the Spanish Main

Verb

The enemy pillaged the town.

The town was pillaged and burned.

barbarians known for looting and pillaging

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

At only 6 years old, Esai Reed has endured three emergency evacuations from orphanages across Haiti as gangs pillage and plunder their way through once peaceful communities. —Dánica Coto, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2024

Byron is surveying rout and pillage, and the terrible ease with which the laws of civil society, such as respect for the elderly, are flung aside. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024

Verb

In the film, Diop, who is French and of Senegalese descent, follows the 2021 repatriation of 26 artifacts from the Musée du quai Branly back to their place of origin, Dahomey, once a kingdom in the modern-day West African nation of Benin, which France had pillaged in the 1890s. —Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2024

It has been pillaged, wounded, dragged into an aggressive war, and turned into a prison run by the most unscrupulous and deceitful scoundrels. —Alexei Navalny, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English pilage, from Anglo-French, from piler to rob, plunder

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

circa 1593, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

pillage

1 of 2 noun

pil·​lage ˈpil-ij 

: the act of robbing by force especially in war

pillage

2 of 2 verb

pillaged; pillaging

: to strip of goods and possessions with ruthless violence : plunder, loot

pillager noun

Legal Definition

pillage

verb

pil·​lage

ˈpi-lij

pillaged; pillaging

transitive verb

: to loot or plunder especially in war

intransitive verb

: to take booty

pillage noun