DEPREDATION Synonyms: 50 Similar and Opposite Words

depredation

noun

Definition of depredation

as in extermination

formal a usually violent act in which something is damaged or destroyed or in which a person or animal is killed The town had somehow escaped the depredations of enemy soldiers.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of depredation More than $1 million has reportedly been paid to rancher claimants for wildlife depredation. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 18 May 2026 The striped bass shark depredations have also been occurring off Chatham’s Monomoy Island — a hotspot for seals, which attract great white sharks. — Rick Sobey, Boston Herald, 15 June 2026 That means hunting, fishing, ranching, and basic depredation practices for wildlife management would all be banned — among countless other common practices like pest control. — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 8 Apr. 2026 In those cases, the GFP says mountain lions were lethally removed due to livestock depredation, attacks on pets, or concerns and threats to public safety. — Angela George, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 20 Mar. 2026 No amount of macho beatdowns in the UFC cage matches on the White House lawn will make anyone forget Epstein’s depredations. — Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 18 June 2026 His nanny was his fierce protector and insulated him from the depredations of Nazis and their enablers, baptizing him and teaching him to handily hurl anti-Jewish epithets to fit in. — Ron Kampeas, Sun Sentinel, 11 May 2026 Federal prosecutors charged Castillo with depredation of government property. — Brandon Downs, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2026 In October 2024, 20 mountain lions were killed through depredation permits statewide, the DFW reported. — Steve Scauzillo, Daily News, 28 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for depredation

Noun

Some pest control companies might include them in general pest control, whereas others include them in higher-tier plans or offer rat and mouse extermination as an add-on specialty service.

— Alora Bopray, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Many extermination companies offer professional spraying services and can send an expert to your house to evaluate the issue.

— Caroline Lubinsky, Martha Stewart, 27 June 2026

Definition of extermination

Noun

Rodríguez said authorities have recorded 862 aftershocks since the main quakes and confirmed that 189 buildings collapsed completely nationwide, the vast majority in La Guaira, the coastal state that suffered the worst destruction.

— Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026
Our previous card featured the fiery destruction of the Missouri Pacific depot in 1909.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 July 2026

Definition of destruction

Noun

Although this is likely an underestimate, due to insufficient data on more than half of North America's firefly species, at least 18 species are officially listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as threatened with extinction.

— Janet Loehrke, USA Today, 5 July 2026
The fossils date to the Paleocene Epoch, the first 10 million years after the end-Cretaceous extinction, during which mammals rapidly diversified as ecosystems slowly recovered.

— Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026

Definition of extinction

Noun

The rigidity and delusions of tyrannies are incorrigible; their purity spirals end in executions, not just cancellations; their adventures end in devastation and slaughter.

— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
Ruthye needs someone to avenge the slaughter of her family at the hands of Krem of the Yellow Hills.

— Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026

Definition of slaughter

Noun

Athalia’s family returned home a few days after the massacre.

— Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 3 July 2026
The issue has been particularly salient for low-income families living near fields of coca, the shrub used to make cocaine, as human rights organizations documented more than 50 massacres in Colombia just this year.

— CBS News, CBS News, 29 June 2026

Definition of massacre

Noun

Alfonzo’s younger sister, Eliana, and stepmother, Patricia, have been missing since last month when earthquakes caused widespread devastation in his home country of Venezuela.

— Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
Yet amid the devastation, what stands out is the determination of ordinary Venezuelans.

— James Longman, ABC News, 3 July 2026

Definition of devastation

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depredation

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“Depredation.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depredation. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of depredation

noun

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