vandal
/ˈvændəl/
vandal noun: a person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages things, especially other people's property.
Noun (1)
vandal (plural vandals)
- A person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages things, especially other people's property.
- Vandals spray-painted obscenities on the side of the building.
- The anonymous vandal was blocked after going on a vandalism spree.
- Synonyms:
- destroyer, ruiner, wrecker, vandalizer
Noun (2) capitalized: Vandal
IPA/væn.dəl/
Vandal (plural Vandals)
- A member of an ancient east Germanic tribe famous for sacking Rome.
Adjective capitalized: Vandal
IPA/væn.dəl/
Vandal (not comparable)
- Of or relating to the Vandals.
- Synonyms:
- Vandalic
Proper noun capitalized: Vandal
IPA/væn.dəl/
Vandal
vandal meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Kannada and Persian
vandal in Hindi
- vandal, hooligan
- हुड़दंगबाज़ huṛdaṅgbāz
vandal in Urdu
- غارتگر, مخرب
vandal in Kannada
- ವಿನಾಶಕ, ವಿಧ್ವಂಸಕ, ನಾಶಕಾರಕ, ಕಿರಾತ, ಅನಾಗರಿಕ
vandal in Persian
- person who destroys or damages property
- خرابکار xarâbkâr, مغول moġol
Examples of vandal in a sentence
- The disfiguration of the statue by vandals resulted in a public outcry.
- The Wiktionary page-blanking vandal was hit with an indefinite block.
- The vandal got off easy, with only a fine.
Synonyms of vandal
Forms of vandal
| plural | vandals |
|---|---|
| plural | Vandals |
Origin of vandal
1660s, “willful destroyer of what is beautiful or venerable”, from Vandal, referring to a member of an ancient Germanic people, the Vandals, who are associated with senseless destruction as a result of their sack of Rome under King Genseric in 455. During the Enlightenment, Rome was idealized, while the Goths and Vandals were blamed for its destruction. The Vandals may not have been any more destructive than other invaders of ancient times, but they did inspire English poet John Dryden to write, Till Goths, and Vandals, a rude Northern race, Did all the matchless Monuments deface (1694). However, the Vandals did intentionally damage statues, which may be why their name is associated with the vandalism of art. The coining of French Vandalisme by Henri Grégoire in 1794 to describe the destruction of artwork following the French Revolution popularized the idea further, and the term was quickly adopted across Europe, including as English vandalism.
From Latin Vandalus, named after the Germanic tribe, from Proto-Germanic *wandilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ-eh₂-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, wind, braid”). Also related to Old English Wendlas.
Words formed from vandal
Words that rhyme with vandal
- handle
- Randall
- scandal
- candle
- dandle
- grab handle
- Randle
- bandle
- behandle
- brandle
- crandall
- file handle
8 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about vandal
- What does vandal mean?
- Vandal means a person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages things, especially other people's property.
- What is vandal in Hindi?
- Vandal in Hindi is हुड़दंगबाज़ (huṛdaṅgbāz). See Vandal meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is vandal?
- Vandal can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce vandal?
- Vandal is pronounced /ˈvændəl/.
- What is the plural of vandal?
- The plural of vandal is vandals.
Words near vandal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: vandal (page history and authors); Vandal (page history and authors); हुड़दंगबाज़ (Hindi) (page history and authors); vandal (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vandal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-vandal.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Vandal.wav.
Cite this entry: “vandal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vandal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.