Synonyms of 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

• seizing
• stealing
• confiscating
• grabbing
• occupying
• claiming
• converting
• appropriating
• arrogating
• preempting
• commandeering
• invading
• annexing
• expropriating
• assuming
• snatching
• pirating
• taking over
• pressing
• attaching
• looting
• encroaching
• repossessing
• grasping
• impounding
• sequestering
• despoiling
• pillaging
• infringing
• misusing
• wresting
• trespassing
• misappropriating
• collaring
• misapplying
• embezzling
• wrenching
• preoccupying
• peculating

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of usurping

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

Beulah's spurned heir Joaquin (Juan Pablo Raba) calls up the mysterious Mariana (Raoul Max Trujillo) to help with his many problems, which include his ranch-usurping half-brother Rob-Will and those Duttons from Montana. — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 3 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

Callie is popular and vivacious, perpetually surrounded by admirers and various hangers-on (Audrey Grace Marshall’s Cara is hellbent on usurping Minnie’s place in Callie’s life, while her himbo-esque boyfriend Brad is given wonderful dimension through Beck Nolan’s sneaky-good performance). — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026