co-opted; co-opting; co-opts
1
a
: to choose or elect as a member
members co-opted to the committee
b
: to appoint as a colleague or assistant
2
a
: to take into a group (such as a faction, movement, or culture) : absorb, assimilate
The students are co-opted by a system they serve even in their struggle against it.—
A. C. Danto
A. C. Danto
b
: take over, appropriate
a style co-opted by advertisers
Examples of co-opt in a Sentence
the national organization co-opted many formerly independent local groups
Recent Examples on the Web
The disgust stems both from that aura of obliviousness and from a retrospective knowledge that the sincerity of late-two-thousands indie music was quickly co-opted into a more commercial version of itself.
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
Minimalism has long been co-opted by marketing departments and lacquered into clichés.
—Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
Put differently, crypto reduces the need to rely on those third parties, the same ones that the government has co-opted to enhance law enforcement’s ability to catch criminals.
—Norbert Michel, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
But more recently, the term has been co-opted by conservative groups that see themselves as victims of a left-wing value system that’s taken root across Corporate America.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for co-opt
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Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2025
Minimalism has long been co-opted by marketing departments and lacquered into clichés.
—Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2025
Put differently, crypto reduces the need to rely on those third parties, the same ones that the government has co-opted to enhance law enforcement’s ability to catch criminals.
—Norbert Michel, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025
But more recently, the term has been co-opted by conservative groups that see themselves as victims of a left-wing value system that’s taken root across Corporate America.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for co-opt
Cite this Entry
“Co-opt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/co-opt. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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