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as in borrowed
to take for one's own use (something originated by another)
after working among them for two years in the Peace Corps, she felt compelled to espouse the peasants' cause for social justice
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of espoused
USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
Assad, a member of the Alawite religious minority, officially espoused a secular ideology.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
Fink’s past critiques of capitalism Fink, who was appointed interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum in August 2025, replacing founder Klaus Schwab, has long espoused the reshaping of capitalism, seeing it as a responsibility of large asset managers like himself.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 20 Jan. 2026
Many of the tenets that 18th-century Shaker movement founder Ann Lee espoused hundreds of years ago could well enlighten today’s not-always-inclusive culture, says Amanda Seyfried.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2026
Although Rubio never espoused anything like that in public, some of the new arrivals at State did.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
The group has seen several other departures after Roberts defended Tucker Carlson’s interview with the controversial Nick Fuentes, who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric.
—Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2026
Unfortunately, the Obama and Biden administrations pushed the reformist line (the Reformist line espoused by Rouhani and Khatami).
—Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 6 Jan. 2026
The interview drew widespread backlash, including from MAGA figures such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, for giving a platform to extremist views—Fuentes has espoused Holocaust denial and white nationalist ideology.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Verb
He's found success as a media personality by posting news and political commentary, which has espoused various conspiracy theories.
—USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
Assad, a member of the Alawite religious minority, officially espoused a secular ideology.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
Fink’s past critiques of capitalism Fink, who was appointed interim co-chair of the World Economic Forum in August 2025, replacing founder Klaus Schwab, has long espoused the reshaping of capitalism, seeing it as a responsibility of large asset managers like himself.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 20 Jan. 2026
Many of the tenets that 18th-century Shaker movement founder Ann Lee espoused hundreds of years ago could well enlighten today’s not-always-inclusive culture, says Amanda Seyfried.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2026
Although Rubio never espoused anything like that in public, some of the new arrivals at State did.
—Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026
The group has seen several other departures after Roberts defended Tucker Carlson’s interview with the controversial Nick Fuentes, who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric.
—Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 12 Jan. 2026
Unfortunately, the Obama and Biden administrations pushed the reformist line (the Reformist line espoused by Rouhani and Khatami).
—Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 6 Jan. 2026
The interview drew widespread backlash, including from MAGA figures such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, for giving a platform to extremist views—Fuentes has espoused Holocaust denial and white nationalist ideology.
—Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for espoused
Adjective
-
My meeting with Hélène Mercier Arnault, the Canadian pianist who is married to LVMH chair and CEO, Bernard Arnault, is arranged at Le Laurent, an elegant Paris restaurant inside an 18th-century pavilion off the Champs-Elysees.—
Laure Guilbault,
Vogue,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Josh Hamilton and Maria Dizzia play a married couple, John Early their son, and Hope Davis the husband’s mistress.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Vulture,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Back in 2022, Schaefer borrowed an idea from his time at Mississippi State as a way to drum up fan support.—
Danny Davis,
Austin American Statesman,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Heather Benson, age 13, borrowed Forever on a choir trip.—
Mark Oppenheimer,
Vulture,
25 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Put pre-matched outfits on the same hanger.—
Brandi Jones,
Health,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
That deal, which required Iran to limit its nuclear program by, among other things, cutting enrichment levels and reducing centrifuges, took effect in 2016 and was due to expire 10 years after it was adopted.—
Michael Collins,
USA Today,
28 Feb. 2026
-
Under the bill, that process is limited to schools where the board of education has adopted an early admission policy.—
CT Mirror,
Hartford Courant,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Across the country, cities have embraced historic districts and cultural corridors as anchors of pride and prosperity.—
Alvin C. Hathaway Sr,
Baltimore Sun,
22 Feb. 2026
-
Their steadfast romance speaks not of life interrupted but rather adapted and embraced.—
Carol Guzy,
NPR,
22 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Composed at Rose’s prompting and anticipating Flanagan’s extraordinary Pain Journal, the volume is so direct in its account of the couple’s conjugal life that the Indian authorities tossed its original print run into the ocean before the books could ship from Chennai to New York.—
Diana Arterian,
Literary Hub,
11 Dec. 2025
-
Shortly after spurning his conjugal love tent vehicle, Colby received a call from Pontiac with a proposition.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
On Luck…or Something, Duff gives listeners a front row seat to the therapy sessions, marital tensions, mid-drive anxiety spirals, and fraught walks down memory lane that make up life for many a 30-something.—
Maya Georgi,
Rolling Stone,
20 Feb. 2026
-
This year saw the separation of Andrew and Ferguson, marital issues between Charles and Princess Diana, a fire at Windsor Castle and was the year Princess Anne got a divorce.—
Lori A Bashian,
FOXNews.com,
20 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Espoused.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/espoused. Accessed 1 Mar. 2026.
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