Meaning & use

pillaging

noun·Advanced

The act of violently stealing goods and property, typically during a war, raid, or riot.

See it in a sentence

Soldiers were strictly forbidden from pillaging homes in the villages they passed through.

Historians described the widespread pillaging that followed the fall of the city.

A note on using this word

Pillaging almost always implies violence or wartime chaos, distinguishing it from ordinary theft.

Words with a similar meaning

lootingplundering

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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