variants
also highjacked
as in commandeered
to take control of (a vehicle) by force
some loser tried to hijack the plane with a toy gun
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 hijacked
Surfing soon dominated my Internet searches, hijacked my REM cycles, inspired a move to California, and spurred a new approach to travel.
—
David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
The overthinking loop, the freezing, the feeling young and overwhelmed—that's her prefrontal cortex getting hijacked by limbic system activation.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Your mind is hijacked by a worst-case scenario as Venus and Chiron clash.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 2 Nov. 2025
In an interview, Jerry Ma, Perplexity’s deputy chief technology officer and head of policy, said that people using AI browsers should be careful to keep an eye on what tasks their AI agent is doing in order to catch it if it’s being hijacked.
—Kevin Collier, NBC news, 31 Oct. 2025
Supporters of these reforms say zoning laws have been hijacked by NIMBYs, and control should be shifted away from local leaders to cities and states.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 28 Oct. 2025
Years of overwork and stress had hijacked my brain.
—Danielle Postel-Vinay, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
The WormGPT name itself has been hijacked by other dark AI models as well, including keanu-WormGPT, which utilizes a jailbroken version of X’s Grok.
—Big Think, 24 Oct. 2025
Our amygdala is overactive, our nervous systems are fried and our dopamine cycles are hijacked by short-term stimuli.
—Chris Schembra, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
David Amsden, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
The overthinking loop, the freezing, the feeling young and overwhelmed—that's her prefrontal cortex getting hijacked by limbic system activation.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Your mind is hijacked by a worst-case scenario as Venus and Chiron clash.
—Usa Today, USA Today, 2 Nov. 2025
In an interview, Jerry Ma, Perplexity’s deputy chief technology officer and head of policy, said that people using AI browsers should be careful to keep an eye on what tasks their AI agent is doing in order to catch it if it’s being hijacked.
—Kevin Collier, NBC news, 31 Oct. 2025
Supporters of these reforms say zoning laws have been hijacked by NIMBYs, and control should be shifted away from local leaders to cities and states.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 28 Oct. 2025
Years of overwork and stress had hijacked my brain.
—Danielle Postel-Vinay, PEOPLE, 27 Oct. 2025
The WormGPT name itself has been hijacked by other dark AI models as well, including keanu-WormGPT, which utilizes a jailbroken version of X’s Grok.
—Big Think, 24 Oct. 2025
Our amygdala is overactive, our nervous systems are fried and our dopamine cycles are hijacked by short-term stimuli.
—Chris Schembra, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hijacked
Verb
-
Under the cover of night, a flotilla of boats, some of them commandeered from local fishermen, tried to cross the Dnipro and land on the embankment near the plant, according to three Ukrainian military officers involved in the planning and execution of the assault.—
Simon Shuster,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
-
There is a First World War U-boat that somehow glides from underneath Lake Michigan all the way to Croatia, commandeered by its captain, post-Armistice, for new and clandestine uses.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
The London punk rebels seized the revolutionary spirit of 1977 with their raw manifesto The Clash, then refined their sound with the flawed Give ‘Em Enough Rope.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Government security forces seized 1,764 tonnes of cocaine between August 2022 and November 2024, followed by a further 601 tonnes between January and August 2025.—
Gustavo Petro,
Time,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hijacked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hijacked. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share