Synonyms of hijacking

hijacking 1 of 2

noun

variants also highjacking

as in kidnapping

the unlawful or forcible carrying away of a person or animal

a country in which hijackings of foreign executives has become commonplace

Synonyms & Similar Words

• kidnapping
• abduction
• rape
• snatch
• seizure
• impressment
• shanghaiing

hijacking

2 of 2

verb

variants also highjacking

present participle of hijack

as in commandeering

to take control of (a vehicle) by force

some loser tried to hijack the plane with a toy gun

Synonyms & Similar Words

• commandeering
• seizing
• confiscating
• carjacking
• skyjacking
• appropriating
• expropriating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of hijacking

Noun

After the first season found Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) unwittingly involved in the hijacking of a plane, Season 2 of the show takes things underground, as Sam is part of a hijacking of a U-Bahn subway train in Berlin, specifically on the U5 route. —Barry Levitt, Time, 4 Mar. 2026

Perry, 33, was charged with murder during the commission of a forcible felony and vehicular hijacking. —Shardaa Gray, CBS News, 25 Feb. 2026

On Sunday, cartel operatives roamed the streets with guns, hijacking cars, ordering passengers out and setting the vehicles ablaze, authorities said, part of a wave of retribution attacks. —Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026

The plot loosely draws from and includes actual footage from real-life events including the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks. —Hannah Abraham, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026

For Elba, 53, seeing Sam navigate a hijacking from a different angle, while also challenging the audience to figure why his character is taking such drastic measures, helped convince him that a second season of Apple TV's thriller series was a good idea. —Sabienna Bowman, PEOPLE, 14 Jan. 2026

Speaking to Deadline in London late last year, the star and executive producer of the Apple TV thriller series talked through the mind state of Nelson, a talented business negotiator and ordinary working man who becomes an unlikely hero after a plane hijacking in Season 1. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 6 Jan. 2026

This allowed credential theft, session hijacking and code injection on any website. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 11 Dec. 2025

Similarly, the presence of dead Colombians at the site of the railroad hijacking suggested that Cortez’s cartel bosses might be hanging him and his soldiers out to dry. —Noel Murray, Vulture, 7 Dec. 2025

Verb

For example, a standout sequence in which Mabel’s attempts to communicate with Jerry via text-to-speech on her phone are derailed by George and the other animals hijacking it while discovering emojis is a riot, and only works because each of the characters is immediately understandable. —Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 2 Mar. 2026

In a sneak peek of the final episode shared with Variety, Nelson finally gets a proof-of-life from his ex-wife Marsha (Christine Adams), who is being hunted in the woods by accomplices of the same shadowy figures that have railroaded Nelson into hijacking the train. —K.j. Yossman, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026

The Pentagon does not want hostile forces hijacking these robotic freighters. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Mar. 2026

Trump’s entire doctrine is naked rapacity, from Venezuela to hijacking the Kennedy Center to hideously remaking the White House in his own gaudy image. —Maureen Dowd, Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2026

Brooklyn Beckham also accused his mom of hijacking his first dance with Peltz at the wedding reception. —Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 20 Jan. 2026

There will never again be one rogue program hijacking the sport with attitude and intimidation. —Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2026

This helps prevent criminals from hijacking phone numbers or spoofing calls and texts. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 21 Dec. 2025

Theories about what happened range from hijacking to cabin depressurization or power failure. —CBS News, 3 Dec. 2025