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misappropriate
verb
mis·ap·pro·pri·ate
ˌmi-sə-ˈprō-prē-ˌāt
misappropriated; misappropriating; misappropriates
: to appropriate wrongly (as by theft or embezzlement)
Synonyms
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
Instead, government auditors claimed in several scathing reports, the money was stolen, misappropriated and put into non-existent projects.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 8 May 2024
As part of the new agreement, TikTok has agreed to curtail content on its platform that misappropriates the identity of UMG artists and infringes on their publicity rights.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 May 2024
Girardi, Kamon and Girardi’s son-in-law, David Lira, face a second indictment in Chicago on fraud charges related to $3 million that prosecutors allege was misappropriated from a settlement with Indonesian widows and orphans.
—Harriet Ryan, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2024
They were accused of misappropriating $10 billion in customer deposits and with generating false financial statements.
—Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 28 Mar. 2024
Once a financial advisor to NFL football players, Blazer had been caught in a fraudulent ploy to misappropriate more than $2M from his clients to fund his hapless forays into the entertainment industry, including financing an instantly forgettable film called Mafia.
—Guy Lawson, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2024
Aside from linebacker Matt Judon, Belichick has also misappropriated tens of millions in free agency commitments since Brady’s departure – the Patriots arguably their division’s least-talented team the past two seasons.
—Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
Avenatti ultimately went to jail for bank fraud and misappropriating client funds.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Although the company has not gone into any more detail about the results of its investigation, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the millions of dollars McMahon misappropriated from company’s coffers were used for hush money to cover up affairs with multiple former employees.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'misappropriate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1825, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near misappropriate
Cite this Entry
“Misappropriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misappropriate. Accessed 24 May. 2024.
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
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)
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