sabotage
Americannoun
-
any underhand interference with production, work, etc., in a plant, factory, etc., as by enemy agents during wartime or by employees during a trade dispute.
-
any undermining of a cause.
verb (used with object)
-
sabotages,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sabotaged,
past participle, past
-
sabotaging
present participle
noun
-
the deliberate destruction, disruption, or damage of equipment, a public service, etc, as by enemy agents, dissatisfied employees, etc
-
any similar action or behaviour
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sabotagesimple
-
sabotagessimple
-
have sabotagedperfect
-
has sabotagedperfect
-
am sabotagingprogressive
-
are sabotagingprogressive
-
is sabotagingprogressive
-
have been sabotagingperfect progressive
-
has been sabotagingperfect progressive
Past
-
sabotagedsimple
-
had sabotagedperfect
-
was sabotagingprogressive
-
were sabotagingprogressive
-
had been sabotagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sabotage
First recorded in 1865–70; from French, from sabot(er) “to botch,” originally, “to harry, shake up, strike” (verb derivative of sabot sabot ) + -age -age
Explanation
Sabotage isn't very nice: It's when you ruin or disrupt something by messing up a part of it on purpose. Loosening the blades on your competitor's ice skates would definitely be considered sabotage. Sabotage comes from the French word saboter, which literally means “walk noisily.” That's funny, because the last thing you'd want to do when committing an act of sabotage is stomp around and get caught. It’s believed that sabotage came into use in 1910 as a noun, and then later in 1918 as a verb. Apparently, people only became so cruel in the last century or so.
Vocabulary lists containing sabotage
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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:
They are not doing high-profile sabotage of corporations; they are not shooting it out in the coal mines.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
In the wake of the tragedy, rumors of sabotage were rampant: Some persist to this day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Moscow has denied involvement in sabotage attacks in Europe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Daniela Richterova's research shows very similar targets on Soviet sabotage lists, and agents-saboteurs were used in much the same way.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
She could sabotage herself so completely that Honorable Scythe Faraday would be forced to choose Rowan and return her to her family at the end of the year.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
She triply underlines her feminist themes and nearly sabotages her own clever creation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
In his pain and anger, he sabotages the play, turns the Hook-Pan showdown into a real fight, and leaves an audience full of kids wondering if Neverland is always like this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026
“Psychological research has shown us that panic amplifies helplessness and sabotages rational thought,” Michael Valdez, an expert in neurology and addictive behaviors, told Salon.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
It seems to mean well, even as it sabotages investor performance.
From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2024
"Then the Earthman—I mean the Earthman who sabotages the rockets—has to be a part of the technical staff," Rick said.
From The Scarlet Lake Mystery by Harold L. (Harold Leland) Goodwin
Africa's largest oil producer has increased production in recent years in part by cracking down on theft while also hiring former militants who sabotaged pipelines to act as security.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Grantham’s latest bearish case is that U.S. stocks could be sabotaged this year by an overheated IPO market.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 17, 2026
Todt died in an air crash shortly afterward, leading to suspicions that his plane had been sabotaged, though these have never been proved.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 24, 2025
A Ukrainian national has been arrested by police in Poland as part of the investigation into the 2022 explosions that sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, his lawyer has said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025
But the day before we were to meet, the South African government took a step that sabotaged whatever goodwill had been engendered by the Commonwealth visitors.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Barrot said the attacks targeted government ministries, companies, and service operators, with the aim "either of capturing information or sabotaging operations, for example rail infrastructure, as was the case in Poland".
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Inside the legal system, though, McLaughlin is known for something else: Actively sabotaging the Department of Homeland Security in court through her crass, often false public statements.
From Slate ● Feb. 18, 2026
“We are sabotaging ourselves,” she said, adding: “You can’t address a housing crisis with a policy that worsens our housing shortage. You just can’t.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2026
But on Tuesday night, after nearly sabotaging itself once again, Scotland put an end to nearly three decades of heartbreak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 19, 2025
She’d had grand visions of sabotaging the Whisperer, destroying its computers all by herself.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
