despoliation
noun
de·spo·li·a·tion di-ˌspō-lē-ˈā-shən 
: the action or process of despoiling : spoliation
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The book’s scope is comprehensive, documenting the grandeur and the despoliation of the region’s geography and the lives and spaces of its poorest—and richest—residents. 
Richard Rothman, Harper's Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021 And yet the saboteurs of Earth First!, the Animal Liberation Front, and the ELF no more launched a mass movement against the despoliation of the earth than did the responsible statesmen of the Sierra Club. Benjamin Kunkel, The New Republic, 26 May 2021 Trump also may have a motive for his environmental policies — enriching timber companies and the oil and gas industry, despoliation of the environment being merely collateral damage. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2020 That rings even truer amid the despoliation of the coronavirus. Robert Hackett, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2020 These geopolitical imperatives will continue to drive the despoliation of the region and its people. Steven Simon, The New York Review of Books, 16 Jan. 2020 Many of the films investigate the plight of those victimized by greed, inhumanity, and the despoliation of the environment. BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2019 That sum was intended to protect habitat as a tradeoff to potential despoliation caused by fossil fuel development. Todd Wilkinson, National Geographic, 27 Feb. 2019 The tool shows other forms of environmental despoliation, including deforestation, coral bleaching, night fires, and glacier depletion as well as sea level rise. NBC News, 9 May 2018 See More
Richard Rothman, Harper's Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021 And yet the saboteurs of Earth First!, the Animal Liberation Front, and the ELF no more launched a mass movement against the despoliation of the earth than did the responsible statesmen of the Sierra Club. Benjamin Kunkel, The New Republic, 26 May 2021 Trump also may have a motive for his environmental policies — enriching timber companies and the oil and gas industry, despoliation of the environment being merely collateral damage. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2020 That rings even truer amid the despoliation of the coronavirus. Robert Hackett, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2020 These geopolitical imperatives will continue to drive the despoliation of the region and its people. Steven Simon, The New York Review of Books, 16 Jan. 2020 Many of the films investigate the plight of those victimized by greed, inhumanity, and the despoliation of the environment. BostonGlobe.com, 12 Sep. 2019 That sum was intended to protect habitat as a tradeoff to potential despoliation caused by fossil fuel development. Todd Wilkinson, National Geographic, 27 Feb. 2019 The tool shows other forms of environmental despoliation, including deforestation, coral bleaching, night fires, and glacier depletion as well as sea level rise. NBC News, 9 May 2018 See More Word History
Etymology
Late Latin despoliation-, despoliatio, from despoliare
First Known Use
circa 1657, in the meaning defined above
despoliation
noun
as in plundering
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- plundering
- depredation
- despoilment
- looting
- robbery
- pillaging
- marauding
- raiding
- piracy
- plunder
- pirating
- sacking
- privateering