vandalism
Americannoun
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deliberately mischievous or malicious destruction or damage of property.
vandalism of public buildings.
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the conduct or spirit characteristic of the Vandals.
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willful or ignorant destruction of artistic or literary treasures.
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a vandalic act.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vandalism
Explanation
Vandalism is the destruction of someone else's property. Some people think of graffiti as public art, while others dismiss it as nothing but vandalism. If you damage public or private property on purpose, you've committed the crime of vandalism. The range of vandalism can vary from carving your initials in a desk at school to tearing pages out of a library book to breaking windows of a building. The word vandal comes from the Vandals, the Germanic tribe that attacked Rome in 455. The tribe's name meant "wanderer," but the word vandal was used in the 1600s to mean "destroyer of what is beautiful."
Vocabulary lists containing vandalism
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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.
Pirro said a botched renovation, not vandalism, was responsible for the reflecting pool’s problems—and infuriated Trump by dropping the case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Morgan condemned the "mindless vandalism", saying "it is the cost to the community that sickens me the most".
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Federal prosecutors charged several people with vandalism, including former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, a 65-year-old who maintains he just picked up a piece of loose lining because he was curious …
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Within days, Pirro’s office also moved to drop misdemeanor charges against three more people accused of the same phantom vandalism.
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Residents knew that people had been trespassing into the Red Zone, and they were worried about vandalism.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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.
