Meanings
vandal1
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.
1 more example
The anonymous vandal was blocked after going on a vandalism spree.
Synonyms: destroyer, ruiner, wrecker, vandalizer
Vandal2
plural Vandals
- historicalA member of an ancient east Germanic tribe famous for sacking Rome.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages things, especially other people's property.
adjectiveOf or relating to the Vandals.
proper nounAn extinct East Germanic language ascribed to have been spoken by the Vandals.
Origin
vandal · noun
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.
Full word history & related roots →Vandal · noun, adjective, proper noun
- Proto-Indo-European*wendʰ-“to turn, wind, braid”
- Proto-Indo-European*wendʰ-eh₂-
- Proto-Germanic*wandilaz
- LatinVandalus
- EnglishVandal
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.
More words from Latin, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek Οὐάνδαλος
- Οὐάνδαλος (Ouándalos)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Arabic وِنْدَالِيّ
- وِنْدَالِيّ (windāliyy)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Bulgarian ванда́л
- ванда́л (vandál)person who destroys or damages property
Catalan vàndal
- vàndalperson who destroys or damages property
Chinese Mandarin 破壞者 /破坏者, 汪達爾 /汪达尔
- 破壞者 /破坏者 (pòhuàizhě)person who destroys or damages property
- 汪達爾 /汪达尔 (Wàngdá'ěr)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Czech vandal, Vandal
- vandalperson who destroys or damages property
- Vandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Danish vandal, vandal
- vandalperson who destroys or damages property
- vandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Dutch vandaal
- vandaalperson who destroys or damages property
Esperanto vandalo
- vandaloperson who destroys or damages property
Estonian vandaal, vandaal
- vandaalperson who destroys or damages property
- vandaalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Finnish vandaali, ilkivallantekijä
- vandaaliperson who destroys or damages property
- ilkivallantekijäperson who destroys or damages property
- vandaalimember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
French vandale, Vandale
- vandaleperson who destroys or damages property
- Vandalemember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
German Vandale, Vandale
- Vandaleperson who destroys or damages property
- Vandalemember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
- Wandalemember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Greek βάνδαλος, βανδαλιστής
- βάνδαλος (vándalos)person who destroys or damages property
- βανδαλιστής (vandalistís)person who destroys or damages property
- Βάνδαλος (Vándalos)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Hebrew ונדל
- ונדל (Vandal)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Hungarian vandál, vandál
- vandálperson who destroys or damages property
- vandálmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Icelandic skemmdarvargur, Vandali
- skemmdarvargurperson who destroys or damages property
- Vandalimember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Irish creachadóir, loitiméir
- creachadóirperson who destroys or damages property
- loitiméirperson who destroys or damages property
- sladaireperson who destroys or damages property
- Vandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Italian vandalo, vandalo
- vandaloperson who destroys or damages property
- vandalomember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Japanese 破壊者, ヴァンダル族
- 破壊者 (hakaisha)person who destroys or damages property
- ヴァンダル族 (Vandaru-zoku)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Korean 반달
- 반달 (bandal)person who destroys or damages property
Malay Andalus
- Andalusmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Māori Wanara
- Wanaramember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Norwegian Bokmål vandal, vandal
- vandalperson who destroys or damages property
- vandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Persian خرابکار, مغول
- خرابکار (xarâbkâr)person who destroys or damages property
- مغول (moġol)person who destroys or damages property
Polish wandal, Wandal
- wandalperson who destroys or damages property
- Wandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Portuguese vândalo, vândalo
- vândaloperson who destroys or damages property
- vândalomember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Russian ванда́л, ванда́лка
- ванда́л (vandál)person who destroys or damages property
- ванда́лка (vandálka)person who destroys or damages property
- Ва́ндал (Vándal)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Slovak vandal, Vandal
- vandalperson who destroys or damages property
- Vandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Spanish vándalo, vándalo
- vándaloperson who destroys or damages property
- vándalomember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Swedish vandal, vandal
- vandalperson who destroys or damages property
- vandalmember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Tagalog Bandalo
- Bandalomember of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Ukrainian ванда́л
- ванда́л (vandál)person who destroys or damages property
Yiddish וואַנדאַל, וואַנדאַל
- וואַנדאַל (vandal)person who destroys or damages property
- וואַנדאַל (vandal)member of an ancient east Germanic tribe
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with vandal
Cite this entry
vandal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vandal
“vandal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vandal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vandal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vandal.
Source: vandal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.