1
as in to seize
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
dissidents were shot, and their lands expropriated under his regime
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to evict
to end the occupancy or possession of
the state will have to expropriate scores of homeowners in order to build the new road
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in to confiscate
to take ownership or control of (something) by right of one's authority
plans by the city to expropriate entire blocks of houses in order to bulldoze them for expansion of the airport
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of expropriate
Hendley was part of a 2018 study that found between $3.2 and $4 billion of wealth was expropriated during the 1950s and 1960s.
—
Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 6 July 2025
This time, Trump took issue with a new law by which the government could expropriate white farmers’ unused property.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 1 June 2025
The White minority that had subjugated and ruled the Black majority after expropriating their land, herding them into poor Bantustans and profiting from their cheap labor, would yield to democracy and a new constitution that would grant the right to vote to all South Africans.
—Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 27 May 2025
The government now uses the law as a weapon to expropriate property from bona fide owners, including those previously seen as regime supporters.
—Andrei Yakovlev, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for expropriate
Darcel Rockett, Chicago Tribune, 6 July 2025
This time, Trump took issue with a new law by which the government could expropriate white farmers’ unused property.
—Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 1 June 2025
The White minority that had subjugated and ruled the Black majority after expropriating their land, herding them into poor Bantustans and profiting from their cheap labor, would yield to democracy and a new constitution that would grant the right to vote to all South Africans.
—Lydia Polgreen, Mercury News, 27 May 2025
The government now uses the law as a weapon to expropriate property from bona fide owners, including those previously seen as regime supporters.
—Andrei Yakovlev, Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for expropriate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expropriate
Verb
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What’s more, after the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Czechs who had their property seized by the state were allowed to reclaim much of it through a restitution system – but not ethnic Germans who lost it under the post-war Benes decrees.—
Will Tizard,
Variety,
25 Oct. 2025
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As my daughter’s face paled, and a man in a clown mask stalked the aisles, panic seized my limbs.—
Christa Carmen,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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And the mass graves of corpses evicted from San Francisco cemeteries a century ago.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
25 Oct. 2025
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The outlet added that Buckingham Palace officials are urging him to leave voluntarily, as he cannot be evicted under the terms of his current lease.—
Stephanie Petit,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The sweeping opinion ran through a list of Israeli practices that the ICJ said violated international law, including confiscating land, building Israeli settlements in the territories, and depriving Palestinians of natural resources and the right to self-determination.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
22 Oct. 2025
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Victoria discussed payment, methods, and timing in messages discovered on a phone that was eventually confiscated from Amato by security guards.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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No Blue Jay has usurped Carter in that category this October.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
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Proposition 50 isn’t an offensive move to usurp power.—
Daniel Borenstein,
Mercury News,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Research published in the Journal of Sleep Research in 2021 found that people who commonly woke up in the night and had trouble getting back to sleep on a nightly basis—effectively depriving themselves of restorative sleep—had a nearly 40% higher risk of developing dementia.—
Helen Carefoot,
Flow Space,
23 Oct. 2025
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Planting these crops too close to apple trees deprives both brassicas and apple trees of nutrients and leads to stunted plants and poor crop yields.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Multiple suspects have been arrested in connection with the brazen heist of crown jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris, a week after thieves stole millions of dollars worth of historic jewelry, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.—
Karissa Waddick,
USA Today,
26 Oct. 2025
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Marchenko kept the heat on by stealing a page from Johnson’s book of tricks, sliding it through Silovs’ pads.—
Aaron Portzline,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Like Dunbar’s speakers, Hughes’s dispossessed have no way out, and the poem implicitly refutes optimism regarding the Great Migration and racial progress.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
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As with the enclosures in England and Scotland, villagers were uprooted and dispossessed to make way for sheep and cattle.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The Asian restaurant joins what has become an increasingly attractive section of Meridian for grabbing food.—
Michael Deeds,
Idaho Statesman,
27 Oct. 2025
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The Clinton years and the 1990s, defined by continuous domestic economic growth and headline-grabbing scandals, were a time when liberal idealism was so strong that Aaron Sorkin wrote a show about it.—
Kevin Dolak,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Expropriate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expropriate. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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