deface
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to mar the surface or appearance of; disfigure.
to deface a wall by writing on it.
- Synonyms:
- spoil
-
to efface, obliterate, or injure the surface of, as to make illegible or invalid.
to deface a bond.
verb
Related Words
See mar.
Other Word Forms
- defaceable adjective
- defacement noun
- defacer noun
- undefaceable adjective
- undefaced adjective
Etymology
Origin of deface
1275–1325; Middle English defacen, from Old French desfacier, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + facier ( face face + -ier infinitive suffix)
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.
Blank signage erected around the town ahead of the meter rollout has been defaced with the same word: "Resist".
From BBC
Later that year, in October, an Extinction Rebellion activist was ordered to pay more than £1,500 for defacing the statue by painting "racist" on its plinth during a climate protest.
From BBC
She’s an aesthete run amok, determined to deface anything that doesn’t live up to her impossible standards.
From Los Angeles Times
They have all issued public warnings against damaging or defacing banknotes when making these bouquets of cash.
From BBC
No one entertains the idea that one person’s graffitied tribute to a male gladiator might have been defaced by giving the picture breasts.
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.
