despoil
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
despoilsimple
-
despoilssimple
-
have despoiledperfect
-
has despoiledperfect
-
am despoilingprogressive
-
are despoilingprogressive
-
is despoilingprogressive
-
have been despoilingperfect progressive
-
has been despoilingperfect progressive
Past
-
despoiledsimple
-
had despoiledperfect
-
was despoilingprogressive
-
were despoilingprogressive
-
had been despoilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of despoil
1175–1225; Middle English despoilen < Old French despoillier < Latin dēspoliāre to strip, rob, plunder, equivalent to dē- de- + spoliāre to plunder; see spoil
Explanation
Despoil is to spoil, only worse. You may spoil a dinner party by being late, but we all despoil the earth with pollution and over-consumption. The Latin root of despoil meant "to strip or rob" and although despoil is used more broadly now, it has that sense within it. When we despoil the earth, we rob it of its beauty and strip it of its natural resources. In the same way, an invading army might despoil a village, wrecking houses and stealing valuables.
Vocabulary lists containing despoil
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Lyndon B. Johnson on "The Great Society" (1964)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Tolkien Reading Day, List 6
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There is an economic aspect to the story in that greed is driving developers to despoil these areas because they see profit.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2023
The project would despoil a mostly pristine wilderness area.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
Rather than let some new owner despoil the hot fudge formula, the owners kept the secret original Brown recipe when they closed, and still sell jars of hot fudge online.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2022
That measure is opposed by members of the local Mura tribe, who say mining would despoil the natural habitat upon which they depend.
From Reuters ● Mar. 23, 2022
The skull seemed to grimace in defiance, daring a stranger to despoil the royal treasures.
From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander
Unfortunately, your visit to Glacier NP was an example of exactly the kind of behavior that despoils and degrades our parks and wildernesses.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2016
There are many benefits of not selling water in disposable bottles in national parks, including reducing trash at parks, carbon emissions and the litter that despoils our parks, landscape and waterways.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 24, 2015
Roger is jealous when Jane flirts with Manishewitz Jr.—“I thought you liked the crabs rangoon here!”—and despoils her new, Roger-free apartment accordingly.
From Slate ● May 14, 2012
Happily, the remedy to his dilemma comes to Nam in a dream: a blue-eyed American sergeant breaks into a bucolic toy community and despoils the place.
From Time Magazine Archive
As you enter a gaming-house the law despoils you of your hat at the outset.
From The Magic Skin by Marriage, Ellen
Metaphors may have no place at a concentration camp, but it’s hard to look at this beautiful enclosed space and not see it, perversely, as the most despoiled of Edens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
Too much of Seattle has been despoiled by the greed and power of developers.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2022
They despoiled the building with their urine and feces.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 16, 2021
The natural environment with which Native Americans had established a harmonious and symbiotic relationship, was similarly despoiled by the twin logic of expropriation and colonization that spread under the logic of manifest destiny.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 10, 2021
That evening, on his return from business, he found his carnation-bed despoiled, and the tiny imprint of slippered feet silently bearing witness to the small thief.
From Donahoe's Magazine, Volume XV, No. 3 Volume XV (Jan 1886-Jul 1886) by Various
Miners hauled in hydraulic equipment to dig and dredge and strip the mountains, polluting the runoff so badly that in 1874, the flatlanders who depended on that water went to court to stop the despoiling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
Plastic, along with other litter, is also despoiling the landscape and polluting our waterways.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
I just wish I hadn’t let my fandom lead me into the fluorescent-lit land of plot despoiling.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2022
A global explosion of disposable plastic, which is made from oil and gas, is increasing carbon emissions, despoiling the world's oceans, harming wildlife and contaminating the food chain.
From Reuters ● Feb. 18, 2022
“We are on the trail of a gang of international thieves who came to France for the purpose of despoiling our museums,” a police spokesman announced.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
