appropriated

verb

past tense of appropriate
1
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
2
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 Congress appropriated $257 million for the renovation of the Kennedy Center. — Gary Fields, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026 Congress had appropriated $257 million for upkeep of the building in 2025, with construction phased out over time and the center remaining open. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 2 Nov. 2026 But Congress had only appropriated beer money for a champagne project. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 29 Oct. 2026 Some anti-hate groups view the use of the nose emoji as antisemitic, while goy is a term that has been appropriated by those who espouse antisemitic views. — ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026 Congress appropriated the money for the ads for immigration enforcement. — Dan Mangan, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026 Chicago Public Schools should fight for every dollar Springfield owes us, while refusing to make promises to families based on money that has not actually been appropriated. — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026 The deep state had appropriated their opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, redeploying it as justification for the massacre. — Abdelrahman Elgendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026 The president responded by saying his administration wouldn't spend the $257 million appropriated by Congress on renovating the building unless the building also bears his name. — Arkansas Online, 18 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appropriated
  1. seized
  2. stole
  3. confiscated
  4. misappropriated
  5. usurped
  6. swiped
  7. converted
  8. claimed
Verb
  • The verdict came just three days after regulators seized Ueno Bank, cutting nearly 3 million customers off from their savings and bank cards and setting off a political crisis.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The Digest Now that the Democratic Party has seized control of Congress, what does that mean for culture, including the debacle over the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and arts funding?
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of seized
Verb
  • After the vows, the newlyweds stole a quiet moment to take sunset portraits along the water.
    — Alexandra Macon, Vogue, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The hackers who stole billions of dollars in cryptocurrency from the Binance exchange spent months working on the theft and used both social engineering and novel malware in the process, the company said Tuesday.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of stole
Verb
  • Despite the freezing temperatures, agents confiscated the migrants’ coats and refused to give them blankets.
    — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • The roughly 3-inch pocket knife was confiscated by authorities, Manfre said.
    — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of confiscated
Verb
  • The lawsuit was filed by Turkish national Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, who alleges that her former adviser Selman Turk misappropriated tens of millions of pounds of her money.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2026
  • His campaign also came amid controversy over the Hope Florida initiative after a grand jury report found $10 million in taxpayer money had been misappropriated and routed through nonprofits into political activities.
    — Sergio Candido, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of misappropriated
Verb
  • But having your name be usurped by a bag is a strangely dehumanizing experience.
    — Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026
  • But by the end of the movie, Verity is dead and her publishing empire has been usurped by her ghostwriter.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of usurped
Verb
  • In post-mortem reviews of the midterm elections in which Democrats swiped control of both chambers of Congress, several GOP leaders pinpointed the blame on the Iran war, including Vice President JD Vance.
    — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Dursus, meanwhile, made 4-of-5 field goal attempts, three of which were 3-pointers, and swiped two steals in the first 17 minutes of her UConn career.
    — Jake McCreven, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of swiped
Verb
  • Weed that exceeds the state’s pesticide limits is destroyed, diluted or converted into products with higher pesticide allowances, such as edibles.
    — Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
  • The Cowboys’ offense did the defense no favors, giving Indianapolis a short field in the first half that the Colts converted on, and scoring just three points for most of the second half.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of converted
Verb
  • Iran established a chokehold on the strait, a vital strategic waterway in global trade, at the beginning of the war, and has claimed attacks on tankers.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Wokoso academics have long claimed that Latinos turn conservative in a desire to become white.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of claimed

Browse Nearby Words

appropriate
appropriated
appropriately
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Appropriated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appropriated. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of defer

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All