ravage implies violent often cumulative depredation and destruction.
a hurricane ravaged the coast
devastate implies the complete ruin and desolation of a wide area.
an earthquake devastated the city
waste may imply producing the same result by a slow process rather than sudden and violent action.
years of drought had wasted the area
sack implies carrying off all valuable possessions from a place.
barbarians sacked ancient Rome
pillage implies ruthless plundering at will but without the completeness suggested by sack.
settlements pillaged by Vikings
despoil applies to looting or robbing without suggesting accompanying destruction.
the Nazis despoiled the art museums
Example Sentences
The landscape has been despoiled by industrial development. the burglars despoiled the art museum in search of treasures they thought they could sell to a fence
Recent Examples on the WebPlastics will continue to despoil the oceans even if all plastic production halts tomorrow. Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 13 June 2022 Even a comparative smidgen of methane can despoil the climate. Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2021 The 2008 financial crisis exposed the economic folly and moral bankruptcy of a system that relied on bribing executives with stock options to squeeze workers, bamboozle customers, despoil the environment and dodge taxes.Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2020 Farm Aid, like other companies, has rejected non-organic cotton that requires extensive use of synthetic fertilizers, soil additives, defoliants and other chemicals that despoil the land.Billboard, 21 Sep. 2020 Ms Ellmann mourns ecosystems despoiled by modern humankind.The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus.San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus.San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 Here in a primitive wilderness despoiled by European invaders, where black men and women are rounded up, murdered and hanged from trees, a much farther-reaching tragedy comes into startling focus.San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Aug. 2019 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English despoylen, from Anglo-French despoiller, from Latin despoliare, from de- + spoliare to strip, rob — more at spoil entry 1