APPROPRIATING Synonyms: 88 Similar and Opposite Words

appropriating

verb

present participle of appropriate

as in seizing

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 stealing

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 appropriating The Legislature is appropriating $5 million in one-time funding to put toward the fund. —

Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 11 Apr. 2026 During Akbar’s conquest of the Malwa region in India, Adham Khan was accused of under-reporting the spoils of the war and appropriating much of it for his own use. —

Tamanna Nangia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026 On Friday, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee announced the City Council had passed a resolution appropriating up to $900,000 in grant funding to restore the Police Department's cadet program in an effort to boost recruiting numbers. —

Brad Hamilton, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026 Unlike war powers resolutions, which in this case would limit military action after the fact, new spending cannot occur until Congress writes and passes legislation appropriating additional funds. —

Charlie Hunt, The Conversation, 11 Mar. 2026 The Salesman was a story about a woman attacked as a metaphor for a blindsided country, the director brilliantly re-appropriating the ultimate American drama Death of a Salesman to make the point. —

Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 5 Mar. 2026 When that happened in 2007, Chevron entered a deal to continue operating in the country, but ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil departed, accusing the Venezuelan government of unfairly appropriating billions in assets. —

Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Jan. 2026 But Huddleston disagreed, saying the charter governs spending money but doesn’t apply to merely appropriating it. —

Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 7 Jan. 2026 Trump expressly declared that appropriating Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves justified regime change. —

Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 4 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for appropriating

Verb

Road closures have been seizing the country’s leafy capital, as vans disgorge military style kit bags and American personnel to match at top hotels.

— Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 19 Apr. 2026
Human Rights Watch said authorities have taken sweeping steps to curb religious practice, including tearing down churches and crosses, blocking gatherings at unregistered churches and seizing religious materials not approved by the state.

— Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026