despoil
11 synonyms and 2 antonyms for despoil, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — To rob a place or person of everything valuable, as in raiding or pillaging.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. verb
To rob a place or person of everything valuable, as in raiding or pillaging.
“To dreamers in the West, Tibet is a Shangri-La despoiled by Chinese ruthlessness and rapacity.”
Etymology
From Middle English despoylen, dispoylen, from Old French despoillier ( > French dépouiller), from Latin dēspoliō, dēspoliāre.
Full origin of despoil →