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At one point in Frodo’s journey in The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien depicts an ancient statue overlooking a crossroads: “Its head was gone, and in its place was set in mockery a round rough-hewn stone, rudely painted … in the likeness of a grinning face with one large red eye in the midst of its forehead.” The statue had been vandalized by orcs, but the roots of vandalize have more in common with the name of a Tolkien hero. Vandalize comes from the noun vandal, which was originally capitalized and referred to a member of a Germanic people who lived south of the Baltic Sea and sacked Rome in the year 455 CE. This sacking is what likely led to the use of the lower-case vandal for someone who damages or destroys property. The Late Latin word for such a Vandal was Vandalī, a word probably borrowed from a Germanic verb meaning “wend, turn” that also gave rise to the Old English Ēarendel, the name of a mythological figure that inspired Tolkien’s creation of Eärendil, a mariner who wends his way across the sky of Middle Earth carrying the morning star.
Examples of vandalize in a Sentence
Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 12 Mar. 2025
The dip comes as Tesla dealerships are vandalized around the world in response to Musk’s attempts to slash government spending as the de facto head of DOGE, an unofficial department within the Office of Management and Budget.
—David Matthews, New York Daily News, 10 Mar. 2025
The sculpture was damaged and vandalized in the summer of 2021, leading Portland Parks and Recreation to remove it.
—Meira Gebel, Axios, 5 Mar. 2025
Some, though, have crossed the line from peaceful protests as people vandalize the cars that helped make Musk a household name long before his foray into American politics.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for vandalize
Cite this Entry
“Vandalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vandalize. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
vandalize
verb
Legal Definition
vandalize
transitive verb
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