Synonyms of arrogate

arrogate

verb

ˈer-ə-ˌgāt 

as in to seize

to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right

arrogated the corner office without obtaining prior approval

Synonyms & Similar Words

• seize
• usurp
• confiscate
• grab
• occupy
• claim
• steal
• convert
• commandeer
• preempt
• assume
• expropriate
• appropriate
• invade
• annex
• take over
• snatch
• pirate
• attach
• press
• repossess
• despoil
• loot
• impound
• grasp
• encroach
• wrest
• infringe
• pillage
• sequester
• preoccupy
• trespass
• embezzle
• misapply
• misappropriate
• wrench
• misuse
• collar
• peculate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of arrogate

Like Mao and Deng before him, Xi Jinping has arrogated to himself great power. — Joseph Torigian, Foreign Affairs, 23 June 2025

What shouldn’t happen is for the federal government to arrogate to itself nationalization powers over what fans are so passionate about. — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026

In every period, the essence of politics has been that a tin-pot tsar who wants to arrogate to himself the right to personal, unaccountable power needs to intimidate the honest people who are not afraid of him. — Alexei Navalny, The New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2024

But all of those ideas for spending or tax rebates, again, all of those are congressional authority that the president is arrogating to himself—something else that would have startled the founders of the country all those 250 years ago. — David Frum, The Atlantic, 31 Dec. 2025

Trump arrogated to himself the authority to impose sweeping tariffs on the entire world, a power that properly belongs to Congress, and has caused turmoil throughout the economy; many economic indicators are now pointing in the wrong direction. — The Editors, National Review, 29 Apr. 2025

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