Thesaurus results for USURPING

usurping

verb

present participle of usurp

as in seizing

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of usurping Last year, netizens coined a new term to reflect our growing disdain for AI bots slowly usurping our human agency. — Victor Tangermann, Futurism, 26 Aug. 2026 In this way, the tech is being used to elevate human intelligence, rather than usurping it. — William Jones, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026 Eggers made his name by deriding, and then usurping, the literary establishment, in the process defying the tired binary of pure artist versus sellout. — Tope Folarin, The Atlantic, 22 July 2026 The opposition’s narrative that Hollywood is usurping home rule is entirely backward. — Keith Poliakoff, Sun Sentinel, 1 June 2026 But even with the UFC’s challenges, no rival promotion has come close to usurping the sport’s power dynamic. — Mark Puleo, New York Times, 21 May 2026 Hegseth and Feinberg, Phelan said, had imposed rigid control over submarine and shipbuilding decisions, effectively usurping the Navy’s authority, these people said. — Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 2 May 2026 One wonders how long the citizens of those communities are going to put up with the state usurping their authority to govern themselves. — Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 9 Apr. 2026 This would seem to challenge the notion that AI usurping human skills will democratize them—for instance, by broadening who is able to contribute meaningfully to math’s advancement. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 16 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for usurping

Verb

At their height, jihadi groups proved capable of spectacular violence, forming alliances amid civil wars and even seizing territory.

— Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs, 8 Sep. 2026
But the truth of it is that Sharaa forced his hand by seizing swathes of the SDF’s territory in a lightning offensive in January.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of seizing

Verb

The team views stealing bags, however, as a different equation, an entirely different part of baseball philosophy.

— Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Two individuals accused of stealing over $5,000 worth of music equipment from a Citrus Heights high school have been arrested after police requested the community’s help.

— Vince Basada, Sacbee.com, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of stealing

Verb

Lebanese soldiers deployed there are tasked with preventing armed non-state actors, like Hezbollah, from coming in; confiscating any weapons and remnants of war; and restoring state authority.

— Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026
The Cuban government has a long history of seizing private property from foreign investors and confiscating private businesses, back to the early days of the revolution, when Fidel Castro confiscated all private businesses.

— Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of confiscating

Verb

The burger eventually went viral, grabbing the attention of corporate, which put a stop to it, Eater reported in 2013.

— Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Springshot urged the court to pause Spirit’s data sale until a transparent forensic process establishes that none of the data Google is grabbing is actually owned by third parties.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of grabbing

Verb

The Pauli exclusion principle prevents identical fermions from occupying the same quantum state.

— Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026
In 1970, she and fellow protesters were arrested and jailed after occupying the offices of the counterculture Grove Press, whose owner, Barney Rosset, was fighting employees’ efforts to unionize.

— Hillel Italie, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of occupying

Verb

The imposition of the tariffs stemmed from a breakdown in negotiations between the two countries in August, with each claiming the other side had unreasonable requests that would be detrimental to their respective country’s workers.

— Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 8 Sep. 2026
Holmes founded Theranos in 2003 and became one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated young entrepreneurs by claiming the company could perform a wide range of medical tests using only a few drops of blood.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2026

Definition of claiming

Browse Nearby Words

usurped

usurping

usurps

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Usurping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/usurping. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of usurping

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

empirical

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes