deface

[dih-feys]

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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.

Origin of deface

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

Related formsde·face·a·ble, adjectivede·face·ment, nounde·fac·er, nounun·de·face·a·ble, adjectiveun·de·faced, adjective

Synonyms for deface

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1. spoil. See mar.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for deface

vandalize, obliterate, demolish, sully, harm, blemish, disfigure, injure, tarnish, scratch, ruin, wreck, damage, distort, impair, contort, spoil, destroy, trash, mangle

Examples from the Web for deface

Contemporary Examples of 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
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

Historical Examples of deface

Don't you know it's against the regulations to deface any natural object in the park?
Maw's Vacation
Emerson Hough
But if it's the truth, again, you have no right to deface the beauty.
Reels and Spindles
Evelyn Raymond
Take it up carefully so not to splinter it and deface the flooring.
Christopher and the Clockmakers
Sara Ware Bassett
It is probably a tattoo mark, the same as all sailors like to deface their bodies with.
Young Tom Bowling
J.C. Hutcheson
Now the sun gilds the slides that furrow, but do not deface them.
The Heart of the White Mountains, Their Legend and Scenery
Samuel Adams Drake

British Dictionary definitions for deface

deface

verb

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

Derived Formsdefaceable, 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

Word Origin and History for deface

mid-14c., "to obliterate," from Old French desfacier "mutilate, destroy, disfigure," from des- "away from" (see dis-) + Vulgar Latin *facia (see face (n.)). Weaker sense of "to mar, make ugly" is late 14c. in English. Related: Defaced; defacing.