vandalism
/ˈvændəlɪzm̩/ noun
Forms vandalisms
- noun Willful damage to or destruction of any property, such as graffiti or defacement. “As we turned down the street I was appalled by the vandalism: spray paint and smashed windows that were everywhere.”
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from French vandalisme, first used by Henri Grégoire to decry the pillage and destruction of art in the course of the French Revolution, in reference to the East Germanic tribe of the Vandals, which looted Rome in 455. By surface analysis, vandal + -ism.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The spirit or conduct of the Vandals; ferocious cruelty; hostility to the arts and literature, or willful destruction or defacement of their monuments.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vandalism”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details