as in exclusive
belonging to only one person, unit, or group and not used by or available to others
The restaurant's proprietary recipe for barbecue sauce is only known to the head chef.
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Recent Examples of proprietary
With the switch to proprietary models, the pitch to developers becomes more difficult.
—
Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
This proprietary ingredient is in all of their products, clinically proven to support stronger, healthier hair in as few as five uses.
—Tory Johnson, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026
Schulman laid out several concerns, including those related to HIPAA compliance, OPM’s lack of legal authority, lack of consumer protections, duplicative reporting requirements, and proprietary data concerns.
—ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2026
Yet distillation has been controversial when used by third parties — particularly in adversary nations like China or Russia — to replicate proprietary work without authorization.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for proprietary
Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 9 Apr. 2026
This proprietary ingredient is in all of their products, clinically proven to support stronger, healthier hair in as few as five uses.
—Tory Johnson, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2026
Schulman laid out several concerns, including those related to HIPAA compliance, OPM’s lack of legal authority, lack of consumer protections, duplicative reporting requirements, and proprietary data concerns.
—ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2026
Yet distillation has been controversial when used by third parties — particularly in adversary nations like China or Russia — to replicate proprietary work without authorization.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for proprietary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proprietary
exclusive
Adjective
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Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
11 Apr. 2026
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Even as the broader market cools, in the country’s most exclusive destinations, high prices aren’t the exception—they’re the expectation.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Proprietary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proprietary. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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