APPROPRIATED Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

appropriated

verb

past tense of appropriate

as in seized

to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right archaeologists wrongfully appropriated artifacts excavated at ancient sites for their museums

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in stole

to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep you can't just appropriate somebody's term paper and put your name on it!

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of appropriated That money is appropriated annually by Congress, where there is widespread support for the alliance. —

Francesca Chambers, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2026 By state law, the legislature is supposed to fund 92% of those excess costs, but since 2011, the legislature has not appropriated enough to reach that mark. —

Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026 The delay and uncertainty mean Duryea and hundreds of small towns are still waiting on the federal government to disburse money that Congress already appropriated, says Andrew Rumbach, who studies disaster policy at the Urban Institute think tank. —

Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 30 Mar. 2026 Attorneys for the federal government were only able to file a motion to reopen the case once Congress appropriated Justice Department funds. —

Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 24 Mar. 2026 But Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement to The Bee that the legal expenses more than paid for themselves when the state won back $188 billion in money that Congress had appropriated, but the administration was withholding. —

Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 23 Mar. 2026 Because the fee revenue is appropriated by Congress and most of it is not considered mandatory spending, TSA does not have control of the money. —

Rebekah Riess, CNN Money, 23 Mar. 2026 In the meantime, the president has embarked on a plan to renovate the center, after Congress appropriated $257 million in funds as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. —

Ted Johnson, Deadline, 13 Mar. 2026 Just weeks after Congress appropriated 2026 funds for NIH, the administration is already stalling their release. —

Jenna Norton, STAT, 12 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for appropriated

Verb

Police said that officers seized a quantity of marijuana and a gun that was later found to have been stolen.

— Mike Darnay, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
Gangs have since seized control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, leading then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry to request international military support in 2022.

— Max Saltman, CNN Money, 3 Apr. 2026