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💣 A saboteur 🚚 A tow truck 🏗️ A demolisher
wrecker

wrecker

9 7.4
A person who damages property on purpose to cause trouble
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛkər/
translation icon : vándalo
  • As a wrecker, he took pleasure in causing accidents on the busy highway.
  • home-wrecker

Examples

  • In Komsomolsk, the wrecker's intention to hurt the city's construction is a major conflict, but the plot contains little information on how this conflict motivates Chekanov's criminal actions.

    Academic text (2017)

  • The second line of action, that of a wrecker determined to undermine city construction, is extraordinarily thin.

    Academic text (2017)

  • America is a thief and a wrecker of property.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • You know, during the Stalin period, there were campaigns against wreckers, against a counter revolutionaries.

  • Here, in the very center, the buildings, especially at night, have their own derelict, homeless air; the remaining townhouses are more like provisional structures than dwellings a hundred years old, as they are so obviously slated for the wrecker's ball.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The wrecker intentionally damaged the construction site to delay the project.

  • The authorities arrested the wrecker for sabotaging the new bridge's foundation.

Synonyms

perpetrator
vswrecker
161 6.8

A person who commits a crime or other serious wrong

is more specific, focusing on deliberate wrecking or intentional sabotage
destroyer
vswrecker
39 5.5

A person or thing that causes great damage

can mean targeted wrecking of property or creating destructive accidents
vandal
vswrecker
22 4.0

A person who damages public or private property on purpose

is similar but can include deliberate accidents and broader sabotage
saboteur
vswrecker
20 8.3

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

focuses on deliberate wrecking and causing accidents rather than only political motive
ruiner
vswrecker
3 7.9

A person or thing that destroys something

focuses on deliberate physical wrecking rather than general ruin
smasher
vswrecker
2 5.8

A person who breaks things by hitting them hard, often on purpose

is about intentional wrecking or causing accidents rather than only forceful breaking
destructor
vswrecker
1 7.4

A person or thing that causes a lot of damage to something

usually refers to intentional damaging acts like wrecking or sabotage
waster
vswrecker
1 7.0

A person who destroys things or causes a lot of damage

implies deliberate wrecking or sabotage rather than careless wasting
sab
vswrecker
  • UK
9.9

A person who damages things on purpose to protest

emphasizes physical wrecking or causing accidents not limited to protest
diversionist
vswrecker
  • NSFW
9.9

A person who damages property or causes trouble on purpose to distract others

often wrecks property or causes accidents without diversionary motive
damager
vswrecker
4.9

A person or thing that causes harm to people and property

is narrower, referring to intentional wrecking or purposeful sabotage
ruinator
vswrecker
9.9

Someone or something that causes great damage

is about intentional wrecking or creating accidents specifically
undoer
vswrecker
9.9

A person or thing that causes ruin

emphasizes deliberate damaging acts rather than undoing processes

Compounds

home wrecker
  • Offensive
9 7.9

A person who has a romantic relationship with someone married or in a relationship, causing it to end

How Destructive

destroyer
39 5.5
saboteur
20 8.3
wrecker
9 7.4
vandal
22 4.0
troublemaker
  • Offensive
69 4.1

Surface Forms

wrecker singular
wreckers plural

Morphology

wrecker = wreck (transparent) = wreck + er

Standard agent noun formation: 'one who wrecks' straightforwardly yields 'a person who deliberately causes destruction'.

Etymology

Wrecker comes from wreck ('to break or destroy'). A wrecker can mean a person who deliberately ruins or sabotages things, which is why we use it for someone who causes damage on purpose.