misappropriate

verb

mis·​ap·​pro·​pri·​ate ˌmi-sə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt 

misappropriated; misappropriating; misappropriates

transitive verb

: to appropriate wrongly (as by theft or embezzlement)

misappropriation

ˌmi-sə-ˌprō-prē-ˈā-shən 

noun

Synonyms of misappropriate

• steal

Examples of misappropriate in a Sentence

They accused him of misappropriating town funds.

a financial manager misappropriating funds from her clients' accounts

Recent Examples on the Web

In 1986, Bycel took on the role of dean for the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, helping steer the ship after the former dean was accused of misappropriating funds. — Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2026

In January, his former UC Davis assistant pleaded no contest to a felony charge of misappropriating public money. — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Apple has sued OpenAI and two of its former employees, accusing the company of misappropriating confidential information and trade secrets to accelerate its consumer hardware ambitions. — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026

The 48-year-old daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte is accused of corruption, bribery, misappropriating millions in government funds and threatening to have the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, assassinated. — Harriet Marsden, TheWeek, 9 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misappropriate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

misappropriate

verb

mis·​ap·​pro·​pri·​ate ˌmis-ə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt 

: to appropriate wrongly

especially : to take dishonestly for one's own use

misappropriation

-ˌprō-prē-ˈā-shən 

noun

Legal Definition

misappropriate

transitive verb

mis·​ap·​pro·​pri·​ate ˌmi-sə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt 

: to appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully (as by theft or embezzlement)

misappropriation

-ˌprō-prē-ˈā-shən 

noun