as in seized
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
the mayor usurped the school board's authority when he fired the principal
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Recent Examples of usurped
Whatever preference the players have not to grow the schedule is usurped by their priority to grow their wallet.
—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Feb. 2026
And though preseason predictions pegged Marty Supreme as Gwyneth Paltrow’s big Oscar comeback, Odessa A’zion’s performance as a girlfriend with gumption has usurped the Goopster’s buzz.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2026
Trump has usurped Capitol Hill's Constitutional powers on spending money and waging war.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 17 Jan. 2026
Ekitike is usurped by a man who cost his new club nothing in terms of a transfer fee.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Vintage fiberglass end chairs and a pair of cushy benches usurped the traditional dining set.
—Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 12 Jan. 2026
But, in the United States, its role was usurped by Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, which made its début in 1828.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
But unbeknownst to the Germans, their international plan had been usurped.
—Literary Hub, 16 Dec. 2025
That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere—whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Feb. 2026
And though preseason predictions pegged Marty Supreme as Gwyneth Paltrow’s big Oscar comeback, Odessa A’zion’s performance as a girlfriend with gumption has usurped the Goopster’s buzz.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2026
Trump has usurped Capitol Hill's Constitutional powers on spending money and waging war.
—Susan Page, USA Today, 17 Jan. 2026
Ekitike is usurped by a man who cost his new club nothing in terms of a transfer fee.
—James McNicholas, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Vintage fiberglass end chairs and a pair of cushy benches usurped the traditional dining set.
—Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 12 Jan. 2026
But, in the United States, its role was usurped by Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, which made its début in 1828.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
But unbeknownst to the Germans, their international plan had been usurped.
—Literary Hub, 16 Dec. 2025
That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere—whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.
—Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for usurped
Verb
-
Authorities have seized more than €957,000 in cash, including €67,000 in foreign currency.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
13 Feb. 2026
-
While Japan has seized fishing vessels from South Korea and Taiwan in recent years, the incident is the first involving a vessel from China since 2022 and comes against the backdrop of a major diplomatic dispute between the countries.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Last month, the FBI raided a Georgia election office and confiscated hundreds of boxes of material from the 2020 election.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Her employee badge, keys and computer were confiscated, according to the memo.—
Jessica Seaman,
Denver Post,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Doncic turned to run back up the court and grabbed the back of his left leg.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Jarrett Allen scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Dennis Schroder added 11 points in his Cavaliers debut and Keon Ellis had 6 points in his first game with the Cavaliers, who won for the seventh time in eight games.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Thieves stole $40,000 worth of handmade puppets, props and merchandise from outside a Hollywood Hills home.—
Alex Wigglesworth,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
-
On March 18, 1990, two men posing as police officers stole 13 artworks valued at over $500 million from the museum in what is considered the largest unsolved art heist in modern history.—
Joe Dwinell,
Boston Herald,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Puerto Rico was first colonized by the Spanish from 1493 until 1898, the year that the United States occupied the country as part of the Spanish-American War.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Prop 19, passed in 2020, limited the transfer of a lower tax base only to homes that a child or heir actually occupied, and excluded rental homes.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
About 60,000 street lights are eligible to be converted to solar, according to Yaroslavsky.—
Melissa Gomez,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
-
Critics across the political spectrum have argued that repeatedly extending the emergency effectively converted a disaster-response reserve into a standing funding stream for immigration policy.—
Garrett Shanley,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
This dynamic has produced a range of figures, from the late Sathya Sai Baba, who claimed to perform miracles, to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose appeal lies in his widely popular Art of Living Foundation, which offers yoga and spiritual advice.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Nanos claimed Cross campaigned against him while wearing his Pima County Sheriff's uniform in breach of department rules, which Cross denied.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Tuesday's vote to approve the Flock contract also allocated that money paid by the dispensaries to the city's general fund, then appropriated the money to the Woodland Police Department budget.—
Ashley Sharp,
CBS News,
4 Feb. 2026
-
The constitution was thus wrested from the Iranian people and appropriated by a ruling cadre that imposed its own interpretation of Islamic law upon them.—
Ramin Jahanbegloo,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Usurped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/usurped. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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