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While often associated with questionable behavior by the royals of eras past, usurp retains its usefulness today. It’s still typically applied when someone takes power without authority or the right to do so, though the power taken is not necessarily political and the question of right and authority may be subject to debate; a city council usurping a mayor’s power is a more traditional use of the word, but one product can be said to be usurping market share from another, and one athlete may claim to have usurped GOAT status. The usurpation can even be sartorial: Amanda Mull, writing for The Atlantic, noted how tracksuits in the 1980s “usurped much of cotton sweatpants’ momentum toward legitimate coolness.” Usurp comes from Latin: usurpare, meaning “to take possession of without a legal claim,” was formed by combining usu (a form of usus, meaning “use,” which also led to the words usually and use) and rapere (“to seize”).
Examples of usurp in a Sentence
Tim Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 28 June 2025
The administration hailed the ruling as a monumental check on the powers of individual district court judges, whom Trump supporters have argued are usurping the president’s authority with rulings blocking his priorities on immigration and other matters.
—Tim Sullivan, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
The district court has no authority to usurp the President's authority as Commander in Chief.
—Arkansas Online, 13 June 2025
California has not remedied the injustice of allowing young men to usurp the position of female athletes.
—The Editors, National Review, 4 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for usurp
Cite this Entry
“Usurp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/usurp. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.
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usurp
verbLatin usurpare to take possession of without a strict legal claim, from usus use + rapere to seize
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