Definition of APPROPRIATE

Choose the Right Synonym for appropriate

Adjective

fit, suitable, meet, proper, appropriate, fitting, apt, happy, felicitous mean right with respect to some end, need, use, or circumstance. fit stresses adaptability and sometimes special readiness for use or action. fit for battle suitable implies an answering to requirements or demands. clothes suitable for camping meet suggests a just proportioning. meet payment proper suggests a suitability through essential nature or accordance with custom. proper acknowledgement appropriate implies eminent or distinctive fitness. an appropriate gift fitting implies harmony of mood or tone. a fitting end apt connotes a fitness marked by nicety and discrimination. apt quotations happy suggests what is effectively or successfully appropriate. a happy choice of words felicitous suggests an aptness that is opportune, telling, or graceful. a felicitous phrase

Did You Know?

From its roots, the verb appropriate would mean basically "make one's own"—that is, "take", or sometimes "grab". Each year the President and Congress create a budget and appropriate funds for each item in it, funds which mostly come in the form of taxes from the public. In the House of Representatives, the powerful Appropriations Committee often gets the last word on how much money goes to each program. "Misappropriation of funds", on the other hand, is a nice way of saying "theft". If someone appropriated pieces of your novel, you might take him or her to court; and if you appropriated trade secrets from your former employers, you might be the one sued.

Examples of appropriate in a Sentence

Adjective More than almost anyone writing today, Slater, whose prose is astringent and sensuous by turn, reflects both a genuine feeling for and appreciation of foods appropriate to the season—and a tolerance for kitchen disasters. — Cynthia Zarin, Gourmet, April 2007 Crepuscular means "pertaining to twilight." It sounds so lovely. I use the word as much as possible, even when it's not appropriate. — Bob Berman, Astronomy, June 2006 While working as one of the exhibition curators, I was surprised to learn that, until the 1920s, ice cream was properly eaten with a fork, a cumbersome technique decried by none other than Florence Howe hall, the granddaughter of Julia Ward Howe, who wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". But if high society eventually agreed on a more appropriate utensil for eating the frozen-dessert, even the most au courant hostess may have had trouble deciding what kind of device should be used for serving it … — Darra Goldstein, Saveur, June-July 2006 Three days. There was no way on this earth that proper due diligence could be done in such a limited time. For a merger of this magnitude, a week's worth of due diligence would have been more appropriate. — Nina Munk, Vanity Fair, January 2004 Red wine would have been a more appropriate choice with the meal. The movie is perfectly appropriate to people of all ages. Verb From this source it was appropriated by Wilhelm Ropke in his effort to develop a social and political theory in which the market economy would be reconciled with the local community. — Roger Scruton, National Review, 20 June 2005 Dr. Seuss's mother, also the daughter of German immigrants, was Henrietta Seuss, and when he appropriated the name for his books Dr. Seuss pronounced it in the German manner, "soice," until he realized that Americans naturally read the name as "soose," and that the American pronunciation of "Dr. Seuss" evoked a figure advantageous for an author of children's books to be associated with—Mother Goose. — Louis Menand, New Yorker, 23 & 30 Dec. 2002 Wales, in contrast, was officially appropriated into the United Kingdom by Henry VIII's Acts of Union, in 1536 and 1543, before it had developed the apparatus of a modern state. — Pamela Petro, Atlantic, April 1999 The town has appropriated funds to repair the bridge and work should begin this summer. The economy has been weakened by corrupt officials who have appropriated the country's resources for their own use. Elements of the design were appropriated from other architects. The term “bad” has been appropriated by teenagers as a synonym for “good.”

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Organizers or appropriate officials are encouraged to contact Sandra Hope at shope@pbcommercial.com to make additions or changes. — Pine Bluff Commercial, Arkansas Online, "Calendar," 10 Oct. 2020 Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld said that school officials monitor to make sure everyone is wearing a mask, washing hands and maintaining an appropriate social distance. — Gloria Casas, chicagotribune.com, "North Shore School District 112 officials tout no coronavirus spread despite positive COVID-19 cases," 9 Oct. 2020 But the old adage that the playoffs are a whole new year seems to be appropriate for the Wildcats. — cleveland, "Lenahan, Pfaff lead No. 11 St. Ignatius past Solon, 42-14, in Div. I, Region 1 first-round game," 9 Oct. 2020 The commission was charged with finding a park that was appropriate for renaming. — Erin Adler, Star Tribune, "Edina renames park to honor Black pioneer family," 9 Oct. 2020 Yelp said that the process for determining the appropriate alert level is completely human-driven and involves investigations from Yelp's user operations team. — Tyler Van Dyke, Washington Examiner, "Yelp announces ‘racist behavior alert’ for businesses," 9 Oct. 2020 The award was delivered to the Howard County Police Department, where an appropriate celebration was held. — Tracy Trobridge, baltimoresun.com, "Fall farm fun available in western Howard, from mazes to pumpkin picking | Glenwood/Glenelg/Dayton," 9 Oct. 2020 Wear appropriate shoes, clothing, mask and bug spray for your comfort. — courant.com, "Community News For The Putnam-Killingly Edition," 9 Oct. 2020 But even private marketplaces don’t always give buyers enough control to ensure their brands show up only in programming appropriate for them, the buyer said. — Sahil Patel, WSJ, "Brand-Safety Firms See a Big Opening in Streaming TV," 9 Oct. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The legislature abdicated its responsibility to appropriate these funds and had to be sued to go into special session. — Anchorage Daily News, "Candidate Q&A: Alaska Senate District H — Bill Wielechowski," 3 Oct. 2020 The City Council was scheduled to vote Wednesday to appropriate more than $290,000 in CARES Act money to the program, which would provide $500 per month to families with small children for 18 months. — Emma Nelson, Star Tribune, "McCollum: Income program for poor St. Paul families must comply with federal law," 9 Sep. 2020 The thief at the center of this dark little novel is likewise a would-be writer who sets out to appropriate the life of his graduate-school classmate—a stunt more than a little impelled by sadism—and the consequences are horrific. — Miles Harvey, WSJ, "Five Best: Miles Harvey on Masters of Deception," 4 Sep. 2020 To assist renters who have been negatively affected by COVID-19, the budget would appropriate about $120 million in COVID-19 relief funds to pay down the accounts of customers who are behind on payments. — Tyler Arnold, Washington Examiner, "Virginia House passes $134B budget with broadband funding, utility and rental assistance," 30 Sep. 2020 Hogsett said the city will appropriate all of its remaining federal coronavirus relief funds to address food insecurity, homelessness, rent/mortgage relief and more. — Ethan May, The Indianapolis Star, "What Indy mayor, public health director said during Friday's coronavirus news conference," 25 Sep. 2020 Unlike some other large states, Texas did not appropriate money to promote census participation in the last legislative session. — John Maccormack, ExpressNews.com, "Low rural census response worries local leaders," 25 Sep. 2020 Victims and witnesses of hostilities said the aim was to appropriate amber and mining resources under the KIA's control, according to the UN report. — Katie Hunt, CNN, "'Blood amber:' A portal into dinosaur times but an ethical minefield for paleontologists," 19 Sep. 2020 Others will take an existing word and re-appropriate it for its own purposes: NBCUniversal’s Peacock, Crackle (formerly owned by Sony Pictures), or the horror-centric service Shudder. — Adam Epstein, Quartz, "Entertainment companies still have no idea what to name their streaming services," 16 Sep. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'appropriate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.