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Glite Dictionary
🎨 A vandal 💻 A hacker vandal
defacer

defacer

8.4
A person who illegally changes a website's pages or images by hacking
  • noun
  • /dɪˈfeɪsər/
  • Texting
translation icon : hacktivista
  • After the defacer attacked the online forum, administrators worked quickly to restore the original content.

Examples

  • A skilled defacer can change a website's appearance in just a few minutes.

  • The police arrested the defacer who had posted offensive images on the city website.

  • The defacer was caught altering the website's homepage.

  • Many defacers are motivated by political beliefs.

  • The police arrested the defacer who had posted offensive images on the city website.

  • After the defacer attacked the online forum, administrators worked quickly to restore the original content.

  • A skilled defacer can change a website's appearance in just a few minutes.

Synonyms

vandal
vsdefacer
22 4.0

A person who damages public or private property on purpose

focuses on changing appearance or content, typically online rather than physical damage
saboteur
vsdefacer
20 8.3

A person who damages things on purpose to hurt a group or country

typically changes appearance or content, not primarily to cause political destruction
hacktivist
vsdefacer
  • Literature
4 7.5

A person who uses computers to attack or expose websites to support political and social causes

alters site appearance illegally without focusing on political aims
tamperer
vsdefacer
1 7.5

A person who secretly changes something without permission

makes visible illegal changes to appearance or content often online

Antonyms

guardian
347 2.8

A person who looks after and protects someone or their things

protector
129 2.8

A person who defends and cares for another person or thing

How Damaging

cybercriminal
  • Texting
1 5.2
defacer
  • Texting
8.4
intruder
240 3.9

Surface Forms

defacer singular
defacers plural

Morphology

defacer = deface (transparent) = deface + er

Agentive derivation from 'deface'; the extension to digital 'website defacement' is a domain shift but the morphological relation is clear.

Etymology

Defacer comes from the parts de- 'remove' and face 'appearance'. That's why a defacer in the online world is a person who changes or damages a website's 'face' by hacking it and posting new content.