vandalize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
vandalizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
vandalized,
past participle, past
-
vandalizing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
vandalizesimple
-
vandalizessimple
-
have vandalizedperfect
-
has vandalizedperfect
-
am vandalizingprogressive
-
are vandalizingprogressive
-
is vandalizingprogressive
-
have been vandalizingperfect progressive
-
has been vandalizingperfect progressive
Past
-
vandalizedsimple
-
had vandalizedperfect
-
was vandalizingprogressive
-
were vandalizingprogressive
-
had been vandalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of vandalize
Explanation
If you vandalize something, you damage or destroy it. Graffiti can be art, but if you spray paint your initials on a marble statue, you vandalize it. Vandalize has an ancient root: the Vandals were a Germanic group of people who famously sacked Rome in 455. Thanks to the terrible destruction they left in their wake, the word took on a meaning of "willful destroyer of what is beautiful." To vandalize is to deliberately damage something that doesn't belong to you. For some, it's a tradition to vandalize whole neighborhoods on the night before Halloween, strewing toilet paper in trees, smashing jack-o'-lanterns, and spray painting property. We recommend just trick-or-treating instead.
Vocabulary lists containing vandalize
Hoot
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!
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 10–February 16, 2024
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!
Twins
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:
"I didn’t vandalize anything," Hearn told the Washington Post last month.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
“We are asking the public to let us conduct our investigation and not to vandalize or damage anyone’s home,” said Officer Natalie Garcia, a Santa Ana police public information officer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2025
Three years ago, a spate of incidents prompted lawmakers to stiffen laws penalizing those who vandalize Italy’s venerable cultural heritage.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
Last school year, several schools closed bathrooms because of a TikTok trend that encouraged students to vandalize and steal paper towel dispensers and fire alarms.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 26, 2023
“And yes, if they’re going to go through all the hassle to vandalize one of my books, you’d think they’d check their spelling.”
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
The bill upgrades the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony if someone vandalizes “any public monument or structure on public property.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2021
In another tweet Tuesday, Trump said anyone who vandalizes or topples a statute could be charged under a federal law.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2020
Macron’s government has said it will crack down harder on unauthorized protests and get tougher on anyone who loots or vandalizes shops and monuments.
From Reuters ● Jan. 9, 2019
When Bart vandalizes a statue in the center of Springfield, he confesses to the whole town and is immediately forgiven.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2014
He draws in nail polish, sloshes gnarly ceramic sculptures with glaze, builds and vandalizes Formica plinths in mockery of Minimalism and makes street-wise, toxic-looking Rothkos, using black and fluorescent spray paint.
From New York Times ● Feb. 12, 2010
Attorney Michael Spence told the judge during a September hearing that there was no plan to recharge Hearn, but he couldn’t promise the office wouldn’t investigate further whether he vandalized the reflecting pool.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The outside of the cafe was vandalized with graffiti.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Ana Martinez of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce said the tribute items left on the star had been cleared in anticipation of already-scheduled work to repair cracks when it was vandalized.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Police said at least four Teslas were vandalized on July 17, with an additional nine more on July 23, adding that the vandal wrote “offensive language” on the vehicles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
“Listen to this,” Mr. Eberhardt said, and began reading aloud from the newspaper: ‘“A Coconut Cove police cruiser was vandalized early Monday morning while parked at a construction site on East Oriole Avenue.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro to prosecute David Hearn, a former Olympian who was accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2026
Iran’s prosecutor-general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, expanded that standard in January to include vandalizing public property and instructed prosecutors to pursue such cases without leniency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Irvine Police Department has arrested a man suspected of vandalizing 13 Teslas with spray paint this month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
The outages as well as regular shortages of food, medicine and other basics are spurring frustrations, with demonstrators vandalizing a provincial office of the Cuban Communist Party last weekend.
From Barron's ● Mar. 21, 2026
On Thursday, British authorities charged a pair of climate change activists for vandalizing Stonehenge, a prehistoric megalithic structure on a chalk plateau known as the Salisbury Plain.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2024
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.
