Thesaurus results for PILLAGE

Q: How does the verb 'pillage' contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of pillage are despoil , devastate , ravage , sack , and waste . While all these words mean "to lay waste by plundering or destroying," pillage implies ruthless plundering at will but without the completeness suggested by sack . // settlements pillaged by Vikings

Q: Where would 'despoil' be a reasonable alternative to 'pillage'?

In some situations, the words despoil and pillage are roughly equivalent. However, despoil applies to looting or robbing without suggesting accompanying destruction. // the Nazis despoiled the art museums

Q: When is it sensible to use 'devastate' instead of 'pillage'?

The synonyms devastate and pillage are sometimes interchangeable, but devastate implies the complete ruin and desolation of a wide area. // an earthquake devastated the city

Q: When might 'ravage' be a better fit than 'pillage'?

While the synonyms ravage and pillage are close in meaning, ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction. // a hurricane ravaged the coast

Q: When would 'sack' be a good substitute for 'pillage'?

The words sack and pillage can be used in similar contexts, but sack implies carrying off all valuable possessions from a place. // barbarians sacked ancient Rome

Q: When could 'waste' be used to replace 'pillage'?

The words waste and pillage are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, waste may imply producing the same result by a slow process rather than sudden and violent action. // years of drought had wasted the area

pillage 1 of 2

noun

ˈpi-lij

Definition of pillage next

as in plunder

valuables stolen or taken by force the pirate ship was laden with the pillage of merchant ships from across the Spanish Main

Synonyms & Similar Words

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pillage

2 of 2

verb

as in to plunder

to search through with the intent of committing robbery soldiers pillaging the countryside for anything of value

Synonyms & Similar Words

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How does the verb pillage contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of pillage are despoil, devastate, ravage, sack, and waste. While all these words mean "to lay waste by plundering or destroying," pillage implies ruthless plundering at will but without the completeness suggested by sack.

settlements pillaged by Vikings

Where would despoil be a reasonable alternative to pillage?

In some situations, the words despoil and pillage are roughly equivalent. However, despoil applies to looting or robbing without suggesting accompanying destruction.

the Nazis despoiled the art museums

When is it sensible to use devastate instead of pillage?

The synonyms devastate and pillage are sometimes interchangeable, but devastate implies the complete ruin and desolation of a wide area.

an earthquake devastated the city

When might ravage be a better fit than pillage?

While the synonyms ravage and pillage are close in meaning, ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction.

a hurricane ravaged the coast

When would sack be a good substitute for pillage?

The words sack and pillage can be used in similar contexts, but sack implies carrying off all valuable possessions from a place.

barbarians sacked ancient Rome

When could waste be used to replace pillage?

The words waste and pillage are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, waste may imply producing the same result by a slow process rather than sudden and violent action.

years of drought had wasted the area

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of pillage

Noun

In my youth, people who needed a geopolitical enemy looked for foes closer to home: US imperialism, capitalist pillage. —

Laura Kipnis, WIRED, 5 Dec. 2023 Slave-trading, mostly, along with mass murder, pillage and corruption. —

Sam Sacks, WSJ, 6 Oct. 2023

Verb

More than 33,000 people fled Haiti’s capital in a span of less than two weeks as gangs pillaged homes and attacked state institutions, according to a report last month from the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration. —

Elliot Spagat, Sun Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2024 Big as the performance is, Stiller isn’t alone: Writer-director-star Eric Schaeffer also pillages shamelessly from the Sundance playbook of whimsy, giving himself the lion’s share of irony-laden pickup lines and depressive witticisms about the pointlessness of romance. —

Sean Malin, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for pillage

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pillage

Noun

Swiss zoologists, botanists, engineers, priests and nuns from missionary societies, merchants and rentier businesspeople, warlords and mercenaries ventured out to participate in plunder and looting as adjuncts or sidekicks of the stronger world powers and financiers.

— Percy Zvomuya, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2024
Major museums in the West devoted to the presentation and preservation of art objects have fitfully begun acknowledging their ties to histories of violence and plunder.

— Leslie Camhi, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024