Synonyms for spoil
- verb
- noun
Synonyms by meaning
Verb
1. Ruin — to ruin; to damage in such a way as to make undesirable or unusable
ruin, contaminate, sully, destroy, injure, defile, damage, waste, deface, harm, pollute, disfigure, devastate, rot, blot, soil, debase, deteriorate, stain, decay, deform, dash
2. Botch
botch, mess up, blow, bungle, bumble, foul up, fluff, sack, botch up informal, muck up informal, mangle, louse up informal, boggle, muff, flub US AU NZ, fumble, bobble, ball up slang dated, bollocks up vulgar slang UK AU NZ, bollocks vulgar UK IE
3. Thwart
thwart, sour, upset, foil, disrupt, frustrate, cross, baffle, bilk, scotch, queer slang dated
Other
mar, indulge, pamper, vitiate, coddle, corrupt, go bad, go off, turn, baby, babby US, impair, mollycoddle
Noun
1. Slag — material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings.…
Definitions
- v. 1
To ruin; to damage in such a way as to make undesirable or unusable.
All this sun spoils me for vacations in the far North.
- v. 2
To ruin the character of, by overindulgence; to coddle or pamper to excess.
- v. 3
To go bad; to become sour or rancid; to decay.
Make sure you put the milk back in the fridge; otherwise it will spoil.
- n. 1
Material (such as rock or earth) removed in the course of an excavation, or in mining or dredging. Tailings. Such material could be utilised somewhere else.
Related words
- Word family
- spoilable spoil-paper spoilsport spoiler spoilage spoilt
- Phrases
- spoil heap
- Is a kind of
- aggravate hinder
Example sentences
- destroy Do you really think it will destroy my reputation?
- injure You have to be careful so as not to injure yourself.
- sully I wouldn't want to sully your good name.
- contaminate Cars with heat engines contaminate a lot.
- blow The loss of her husband was a great blow for Mary.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| spoil | steady | |
| destroy | steady | |
| injure | falling | |
| sully | rising | |
| contaminate | steady | |
| blow | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- mar1, rot1
- 4 letters
- turn1, baby2, blow1, harm1, rape1, gang1, soil1, ruin2, dash1, prey1, sack1, sour2, foil1, loot1
- 5 letters
- cross1, waste1, upset2, prize1, decay2, queer1, stain1, booty2, fluff1, sully2, prise, botch1, babby
- 6 letters
- damage2, murder2, scotch1, fumble2, fleece1, injure2, thwart1, bumble2, impair2, pamper2, baffle2, defile, bobble2, ravage2
- 7 letters
- destroy2, corrupt2, violate3, disrupt2, indulge2, plunder2, pollute2, pillage2, vitiate3, despoil
- 8 letters
- stealing2, bollocks2, tailings2, spoilage2
- 9 letters
- frustrate2, devastate3, disfigure3
- 10 letters
- spoliation
- 11 letters
- deteriorate5, contaminate4, mollycoddle4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (baby2 = 2 syllables).