EFFACING Synonyms: 90 Similar and Opposite Words

effacing

verb

present participle of efface

as in erasing

to destroy all traces of when the supply ship finally arrived, it discovered that virtually all evidence of the colony at Roanoke had been effaced

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of effacing Their struggle has upturned the tabletop candle that illuminates the scene and any moment will surely extinguish it, effacing the giddy pattern formed by the writhing bodies and glowing, veiny bladder skin. — Julian Bell, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2026 The leaps in time have the eerie effect of effacing time—the layered succession of images implying their simultaneity in Lidia’s mind. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for effacing

Verb

But Bama followed with a 38-3 quarterfinal flop to Indiana, erasing any momentum and placing DeBoer squarely under the microscope entering a pivotal third season.

— Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
The 68-year-old also lost her husband and her son, who worked at a local hydropower plant, in the flash floods that hit the region on Wednesday, erasing entire communities.

— Sophie Tanno, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of erasing

Verb

The brand also claims that this sweeps away plaque rather than just blasting a hole through it, more effectively eradicating the sludgy bacteria.

— Jenny Bailly, Allure, 1 Sep. 2026
Tlaib is also a prominent critic of Israel; her rhetoric has been chastised by Jewish colleagues as an antisemitic call for eradicating Jews, a charge the congresswoman and her supporters reject.

— Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of eradicating

Verb

Debates over abolishing or scaling back the institution, which occasionally flare up in the United Kingdom and other nations, are rare in Norway.

— Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
While his party debates abolishing prisons and owning grocery stores, Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie is cleaning up his city.

— Kate Andrews, Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of abolishing

Verb

Demonstrators carrying Spanish flags moved toward beachside migrant camps last week, destroying shelters and setting fires as police attempted to keep protesters and migrants apart, according to Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE and news agency EFE.

— Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 1 Sep. 2026
Several homeowners near Meta’s massive Newton County data center have filed a lawsuit accusing the tech company and others of tainting their water and destroying their rural way of life.

— Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of destroying

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effaces

effacing

effect

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“Effacing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/effacing. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of effacing

verb

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