commandeered

verb

past tense of commandeer
1
as in hijacked
to take control of (a vehicle) by force an airliner commandeered by terrorists

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in seized
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right commandeered all of the equipment, as if the chem lab belonged solely to him

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 commandeered In the most infamous example, a swarm of 1,000 Open AI agents escaped their sandbox, commandeered online message boards to communicate with each other, and breached the systems of the open source AI community Hugging Face. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 14 Oct. 2026 Such go-fast boats were designed for offshore racing but were later commandeered by drug smugglers in South Florida during the 1980s. — Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2026 Curious Londoners stopped to figure out why a marching band, a blue bird and a few hundred Americans had suddenly commandeered a stretch of Oxford Street. — Taylor Eldridge, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026 Inside the farmhouse, the kitchen speaker has been entirely commandeered by cast members Earl Cave and Conrad Khan. — Riann Phillip, Vogue, 18 Sep. 2026 The Jackson campaign had commandeered the green room Bottoms and her aides were supposed to use for the event. — Adam Beam, AJC.com, 28 Aug. 2026 John’s little motorbike proves no match for the large truck commandeered by the T-1000, which blasts through a cinder block wall at one point. — ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026 This data could be leveraged for surveillance or intelligence, and robots could be remotely commandeered. — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 The Loa River was commandeered in its entirety, source to mouth. — Cristina Dorador, The Dial, 14 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commandeered
  1. hijacked
  2. seized
  3. confiscated
  4. converted
  5. usurped
  6. grabbed
  7. occupied
  8. stole
Verb
  • At one point this summer, six vessels had been hijacked simultaneously with 90 crew members held hostage, according to Operation ATALANTA.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Much has been debated and discussed about its many metaphors and symbolism, which employed elements of a splintered universe long before the multiverse was hijacked by Hollywood superhero spectacles.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of hijacked
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
  • 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 Sun Devils converted three third downs on their first scoring drive, which ended with Omarion Miller’s 20-yard touchdown catch.
    — Chantz Martin OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Against Liberty, however, that strength disappeared as the Flames converted all seven red-zone opportunities into touchdowns.
    — Alejandro Hernandez, Miami Herald, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of converted
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
  • One of the officers grabbed a protester who was filming him and deployed pepper spray after a brief struggle.
    — Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The story grabbed worldwide attention and ended tragically when the baby’s body was found in the woods just a few miles from home.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of grabbed
Verb
  • The current structure, which houses the watch store Bucherer, among other tenants, was built for IBM in 1983, but from 1938 to 1964 this site was occupied by the technology company’s headquarters and showroom.
    — Alec Mapes-Frances, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Elsewhere in Europe, a huge encampment of tents has occupied a square in Madrid since late last month, and thousands of people in Portugal have taken to the streets in the city of Lisbon.
    — Richard Engel, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of occupied
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

Browse Nearby Words

commandeer
commandeered
commandeering
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Cite this Entry

“Commandeered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commandeered. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

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