Standard Lemma guide

despoiler

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One who despoils; one who strips by force; a plunderer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1985, Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History, New York: Norton, 1987, Chapter 1, Other despoilers of our natural heritage killed bison with even greater abandon, removed the tongue only (considered a great delicacy in some quarters), and left the rest of the carcass to rot.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

someone who takes spoils or plunder (as in war)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: plunderer, pillager, looter, spoiler, raider, freebooter

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: thief, stealer

Narrower terms: pirate, buccaneer, sea robber, sea rover

History

Etymology

From Middle English dispoyler, dispoylere, equivalent to despoil + -er.