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
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variants
also highjacking
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
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Recent Examples of hijacking
Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026
The daughter of a 2024 bus hijacking victim has filed a lawsuit saying the bus operator, Gwinnett County and the city of Atlanta are all to blame for not noticing the shooter’s erratic behavior long before the trigger was pulled.
—Alex Nettles, AJC.com, 11 June 2026
Briscoe was hired by the AP in Manila in 1970, covering a deadly earthquake that rocked the capital, an assassination attempt on Pope Paul VI and the hijacking of a plane.
—ABC News, 10 June 2026
Phishing campaigns, credential-stuffing attacks, token replay and session hijacking can occur from anywhere in the world and organizations must assume a compromise exists and architect systems that minimize the blast radius based on zero-trust tenets.
—Morey Haber, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
The pilot allegedly used squawk code 7500 during the incident — the air traffic control signal referencing a plane hijacking, Metro reported.
—Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 30 May 2026
Nothing too extreme thus far — no darkness retreat, ayahuasca journey or draft-night hijacking — but still, enough to make the Steelers feel just a bit uneasy.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 12 May 2026
The hijacking of humanitarian aid convoys by Hamas and armed gangs prevented the civilian population from receiving food and medicines.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 10 May 2026
Google says that any site that uses back button hijacking should spend the next two months eliminating the practice.
—ArsTechnica, 14 Apr. 2026
Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 3 June 2026
This year’s sequel climaxes with Grace hijacking her second wedding to a Satanic heir by killing him and banishing his oligarchical cabal to hell.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 May 2026
Nicky’s sister Portia (Gus Birney) seems intent on hijacking the wedding, spearheading everything from food to decor.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
In the 1960s, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and then the Palestine Liberation Organization began hijacking international flights.
—Joshua M. Davidson, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2026
In December, security researchers also spotted evidence that the creators of Aisuru were behind a new botnet called Kimwolf that’s been hijacking Android TV boxes.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026
European Union leaders on Thursday lashed out at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, accusing him of hijacking critical aid for Ukraine and undermining EU decision-making in an effort to win an election at home.
—ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026
Twin fuel crises sparked panic buying, hoarding and violence as Americans resorted to desperate measures including siphoning, theft and even hijacking tanker trucks.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
The goal is to stop scammers from hijacking accounts through tricks like fake talent competitions or misleading QR codes.
—Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2026
Noun
White, who was taken into custody by federal agents, was later found incompetent to stand trial on hijacking and murder charges.
—Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026
The daughter of a 2024 bus hijacking victim has filed a lawsuit saying the bus operator, Gwinnett County and the city of Atlanta are all to blame for not noticing the shooter’s erratic behavior long before the trigger was pulled.
—Alex Nettles, AJC.com, 11 June 2026
Briscoe was hired by the AP in Manila in 1970, covering a deadly earthquake that rocked the capital, an assassination attempt on Pope Paul VI and the hijacking of a plane.
—ABC News, 10 June 2026
Phishing campaigns, credential-stuffing attacks, token replay and session hijacking can occur from anywhere in the world and organizations must assume a compromise exists and architect systems that minimize the blast radius based on zero-trust tenets.
—Morey Haber, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
The pilot allegedly used squawk code 7500 during the incident — the air traffic control signal referencing a plane hijacking, Metro reported.
—Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 30 May 2026
Nothing too extreme thus far — no darkness retreat, ayahuasca journey or draft-night hijacking — but still, enough to make the Steelers feel just a bit uneasy.
—Michael Silver, New York Times, 12 May 2026
The hijacking of humanitarian aid convoys by Hamas and armed gangs prevented the civilian population from receiving food and medicines.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 10 May 2026
Google says that any site that uses back button hijacking should spend the next two months eliminating the practice.
—ArsTechnica, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
Britain’s far-right has a history of hijacking incidents like this to use as fuel for their own narratives.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 3 June 2026
This year’s sequel climaxes with Grace hijacking her second wedding to a Satanic heir by killing him and banishing his oligarchical cabal to hell.
—Judy Berman, Time, 27 May 2026
Nicky’s sister Portia (Gus Birney) seems intent on hijacking the wedding, spearheading everything from food to decor.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
In the 1960s, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and then the Palestine Liberation Organization began hijacking international flights.
—Joshua M. Davidson, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2026
In December, security researchers also spotted evidence that the creators of Aisuru were behind a new botnet called Kimwolf that’s been hijacking Android TV boxes.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 20 Mar. 2026
European Union leaders on Thursday lashed out at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, accusing him of hijacking critical aid for Ukraine and undermining EU decision-making in an effort to win an election at home.
—ABC News, 19 Mar. 2026
Twin fuel crises sparked panic buying, hoarding and violence as Americans resorted to desperate measures including siphoning, theft and even hijacking tanker trucks.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
The goal is to stop scammers from hijacking accounts through tricks like fake talent competitions or misleading QR codes.
—Alexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 12 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hijacking
Noun
-
Footage of a potential suspect recovered from a doorbell camera the night her disappearance led investigators to begin treating the case as a kidnapping.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 June 2026
-
The defense challenged that interpretation, focusing on legal questions surrounding the status of the unborn child and whether kidnapping could be applied in the manner the prosecution argued.—
Isabella Wandermurem,
Time,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
Imagine, then, commandeering a private plane for the ultimate two-week adventure entirely on your own terms.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Although this year’s edition of the Oscars, which aired on ABC on March 15, was hardly in the class of the 1972 installment, there was at least one moment that recalled Johnson’s witty, graceful sendup of stars commandeering the ceremony to climb atop their soapbox.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
More than three decades after the abduction and killing of a Granite Bay mother shocked Placer County, the man accused of the crime has pleaded guilty and agreed to spend the rest of his life in prison.—
Richard Ramos,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
-
The movement emerged after the abduction and killing of Lyhanna in late May and intensified as the suspect’s history came to light.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
16 June 2026
Verb
-
He’s drawn to attempting to achieve things that his predecessors could not, including seizing territory for the United States (Greenland, for sure, but maybe Canada, too) and toppling antagonistic regimes (Venezuela, Iran, possibly Cuba).—
Jonathan Lemire,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
-
The Scarborough Shoal, known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc and in China as Huangyan Dao, sits within Manila's exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, but Beijing has maintained a near-constant presence around the shoal after seizing de facto control in a tense 2012 standoff.—
James LaPorta,
CBS News,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
In 2017, Mayorga hired a new legal team and the allegation of rape was made public, prompting the Las Vegas Police to reopen the case and issue a warrant for a DNA sample from Ronaldo in January.—
Dan Sheldon,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
-
The 55-year-old would have been facing a life sentence had he been convicted of initial charges that included first-degree rape, simple criminal damage to property, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple robbery, and false imprisonment in the assault.—
Steven J. Horowitz,
Variety,
16 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hijacking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hijacking. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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