deface

[ dih-feys ]

/ dɪˈfeɪs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR deface ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), de·faced, de·fac·ing.

to mar the surface or appearance of; disfigure: to deface a wall by writing on it.

to efface, obliterate, or injure the surface of, as to make illegible or invalid: to deface a bond.

Nearby words

deesis, deet, deets, def, def., deface, defaecate, defalcate, defalcation, defamation, defamatory

Origin of deface

1275–1325; Middle English defacen < Old French desfacier, equivalent to des- dis-¹ + facier (face face + -ier infinitive suffix)

SYNONYMS FOR deface

1 spoil. See mar.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR deface ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

de·face·a·ble, adjectivede·face·ment, nounde·fac·er, nounun·de·face·a·ble, adjective

un·de·faced, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for deface

After sneaking in under the cover of night, the vandals chose these symbols to deface.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews Vandalize Jerusalem’s Holocaust Memorial|Alex Klein|June 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It was as if Romney had lit his résumé on fire, and had returned to Boston to deface his gubernatorial portrait.
Don't Call Us Mavericks!|Bryan Curtis|April 5, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Some of his more ardent hearers began to deface the statues and pictures.
A History of the Reformation (Vol. 2 of 2)|Thomas M. Lindsay
He loved the truth too much to allow the workings of human weakness in himself or others to deface its fair features.
Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume II (of 2)|Wiliam Cabell Bruce

The light of the lamp fell full upon her features, whose gentle beauty pain was impotent to deface.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine--Volume 62, No. 386, December, 1847|Various
He held the See for twenty-one years, and he made it his business deliberately to deface all this statuary.
Highways and Byways in Cambridge and Ely|Rev. Edward Conybeare.
And in Homer the beauty bears none of the barbaric strains that deface the rites of Athens in her glory.
The World of Homer|Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for deface

deface

/ (dɪˈfeɪs) /

verb

(tr) to spoil or mar the surface, legibility, or appearance of; disfigure

Derived Forms

defaceable, adjectivedefacement, noundefacer, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012