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
Its proprietary antioxidant is almost four times stronger than vitamin C, which helps defend against the everyday stressors (UV, pollution, and other environmental damage) that break down collagen and speed up visible aging.
—
Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 23 Jan. 2026
Bergdorf’s chief merchandising officer Yumi Shin left the store last year to join Nordstrom and is being sued by Saks Global for allegedly violating her noncompete agreement and stealing proprietary information.
—David Moin, Footwear News, 23 Jan. 2026
The team also developed a proprietary nozzle that produces core-and-sheath beads.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
Pinterest reportedly achieved performance comparable to proprietary models at 90% less cost by using open-source tools.
—John Acunto, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for proprietary
Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 23 Jan. 2026
Bergdorf’s chief merchandising officer Yumi Shin left the store last year to join Nordstrom and is being sued by Saks Global for allegedly violating her noncompete agreement and stealing proprietary information.
—David Moin, Footwear News, 23 Jan. 2026
The team also developed a proprietary nozzle that produces core-and-sheath beads.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
Pinterest reportedly achieved performance comparable to proprietary models at 90% less cost by using open-source tools.
—John Acunto, Fortune, 22 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for proprietary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for proprietary
exclusive
Adjective
-
No doubt Samsung will have some exclusive colorways only available through its online store (the classically black Titanium Jetblack Galaxy S25 was one of the exclusives last year).—
Ewan Spence,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
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Released early last year, the RM 74-02 showcases an exclusive new Gold Quartz TPT that combines ultra-thin sheets of quartz with delicate leaves of 22-karat 5N red gold.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
24 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Proprietary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/proprietary. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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