vandalism

English

The destruction of glass windows and doors is a form of vandalism.

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.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvændəlɪzm̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

vandalism (countable and uncountable, plural vandalisms)

1. Willful damage to or destruction of any property, such as graffiti or defacement.

   Synonym: vandalization

   As we turned down the street I was appalled by the vandalism: spray paint and smashed windows that were everywhere.

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:

     Bradford once boasted two stations with overall roofs. The pair were swept away in the 1970s in an act of corporate and civic vandalism.

   • 2025 March 22, Megan Forrester, “Trump suggests Tesla vandals should be sent to prison in El Salvador”, in ABC News‎^[1]:

     President Donald Trump seemed to issue a warning to individuals who participate in Tesla vandalisms, as reports of destruction to vehicles, dealerships and charging stations surge across the country. […] When asked about his comments at the White House on Friday afternoon, Trump called the vandalism suspects "terrorists" and appeared to argue what was happening with Tesla vehicles was worse than what happened during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

Derived terms

• antivandalism
• cybervandalism

Related terms

• vandal
• vandalise, vandalize

Translations

needless damage or destruction of property

• Arabic: تَخْرِيب m (taḵrīb)
• Azerbaijani: vandalizm
• Belarusian: вандалі́зм m (vandalízm)
• Bulgarian: вандали́зъм (bg) m (vandalízǎm)
• Catalan: vandalisme m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蓄意破壞 / 蓄意破坏 (xùyìpòhuài)

• Crimean Tatar: vandalizm
• Czech: vandalismus (cs) m, vandalství n
• Danish: vandalisme c, hærværk (da) n
• Dutch: vandalisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: vandalismo (eo)
• Estonian: vandalism (et)
• Finnish: vandalismi (fi), ilkivalta (fi)
• French: vandalisme (fr) m
• Galician: vandalismo (gl) m
• Georgian: ვანდალიზმი (vandalizmi), ბარბაროსობა (barbarosoba)
• German: Vandalismus (de) m
• Greek: βανδαλισμός (el) m (vandalismós)
• Hebrew: ונדליזם m
• Hungarian: vandalizmus (hu)
• Icelandic: skemmdarverk (is) n, spjöll n pl
• Ido: vandaleso, vandalajo
• Interlingua: vandalismo
• Irish: loitiméireacht f
• Italian: vandalismo (it) m
• Japanese: 荒らし (ja) (arashi), ヴァンダリズム (vandarizumu)
• Korean: 반달리즘 (ko) (bandallijeum)
• Latin: corruptiō (la) f, ruptiō f, vandalismus m
• Macedonian: вандали́зам m (vandalízam), ди́вјаштво n (dívjaštvo)
• Malay: vandalisme
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hærverk n, vandalisme m

  Nynorsk: hærverk n

• Polish: wandalizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: vandalismo (pt) m
• Romanian: vandalism (ro) n
• Russian: вандали́зм (ru) m (vandalízm)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: вандалѝзам m

  Roman: vandalìzam (sh) m

• Spanish: vandalismo (es) m, gamberrada f
• Swedish: vandalism (sv) c
• Tagalog: bandalismo, pambababoy
• Tibetan: གཅག་གཏོར་བྱེད་ཡག (gcag gtor byed yag)
• Turkish: vandalizm (tr)
• Ukrainian: вандалі́зм (uk) m (vandalízm)
• Vietnamese: phá hoại (vi)
• Volapük: vandalöm
• Welsh: fandaliaeth (cy) f

Further reading

• vandalism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vandalisme. Equivalent to vandal +‎ -ism.

Noun

vandalism n (uncountable)

1. vandalism

Declension

Declension of vandalism

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	vandalism	vandalismul
genitive-dative	vandalism	vandalismului
vocative	vandalismule

Swedish

Noun

vandalism c

1. vandalism

Declension

Declension of vandalism

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	vandalism	vandalisms
	definite	vandalismen	vandalismens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—