APPROPRIATES Synonyms: 87 Similar and Opposite Words

appropriates

verb

present tense third-person singular of appropriate

as in seizes

to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right archaeologists wrongfully appropriated artifacts excavated at ancient sites for their museums

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in steals

to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep you can't just appropriate somebody's term paper and put your name on it!

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 appropriates Tiki bars aren’t without criticism, having occasionally been attacked as escapist fantasy that appropriates Hawaiian or Polynesian iconography. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 Summary The Caribbean is increasingly a global wellness hub, though Western influence often appropriates Afro-Indigenous practices. — Tiana Randall, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2026 By contrast, Congress appropriates much of the public-private institution’s funding and exercises oversight over the institution, which is governed by a board of regents. — Kelsey Ables, The Atlantic, 23 July 2026 The state appropriates within its budget to ensure bond holders know the state has the money, but the state hasn’t had to use that money because the admissions tax and tax district have funded the bond, Huston said. — Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026 The lawsuit argues the freeze violated federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act and constitutional limits on executive power and how Congress appropriates funds. — Sacbee.com, 9 Jan. 2026 The state appropriates funds for the voucher program at the beginning of the fiscal year and then seeks federal reimbursement. — Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 7 Jan. 2026 But November's benefits have been disrupted due to a lack of funding deal from Congress, which appropriates the federal funds for the program. — Aliss Higham, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025 Typically, Congress passes a budget that appropriates money for the next fiscal year to federal agencies. — Amy Maxmen, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for appropriates

Verb

Sid is smart enough to sniff this out, and the show seizes the opportunity to raise the romantic stakes through an adorably British expression of mutual libidinousness.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
That reporting revealed that the state frequently seizes money from legal settlements stemming from medical malpractice, police brutality, workplace injury and other wrongful death lawsuits.

— Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of seizes

Verb

Professor Frink reanimates his formerly deceased father after winning the Nobel Prize, but the elder Frink, not content with his current body, steals parts and organs from other humans.

— Joshua Kurp, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026
The central spiral staircase in the common area, with its ultra-plush carpeting, steals the show.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of steals

Verb

Large swaths of the film are composed of close-ups of people’s faces or hands, giving seemingly mundane exchanges and gestures — say, a moment when Evans, unimpressed with Holmes’s egg-whisking technique, confiscates the bowl — greater weight.

— Alex Barasch, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
Unlike most other states, California has its own inspection-and-approval system for fireworks, and confiscates those failing standards.

— Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 30 June 2026

Definition of confiscates

Verb

California courts have repeatedly refused to rewrite unconstitutional tax statutes on the grounds that this usurps the role of the Legislature or, in the case of an initiative, the people.

— Jared Walczak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 July 2026
After witnessing Sinner miss 16 break points against the same opponent on Friday, Alcaraz would have been forgiven for worrying that something similar might happen to him — especially against arguably tennis’s greatest escape artist, at least until the Spaniard usurps him.

— Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2026

Definition of usurps

Verb

The 16-acre complex of 19th-century mill buildings occupies almost a third of the North Adams downtown business region.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2026
Zhu-Nowell is executive director and chief curator of Shanghai’s Rockbund Art Museum, which occupies a 1930s building renovated by British architect David Chipperfield in 2010.

— Stephy Chung, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of occupies

Verb

If anyone who is hired to MC one of the largest events in golf grabs a microphone and joins in on ‘f you’ chants directed at a player in the event you're being paid to be a part of, that person is undoubtedly being fired, regardless of gender.

— Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
The suspect runs inside, grabs rolls of lottery tickets, stuffs them into a bag and runs out.

— Tara Lynch, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of grabs

Verb

Out-of-control AI escapes human oversight, commandeers vital infrastructure and kills millions of people or even all of humanity.

— Max Zahn, ABC News, 16 Sep. 2026
After he’s randomly slapped by multiple women, Barney commandeers Ted and Marshall’s March Madness bracket to figure out which of his past conquests is sabotaging his love life.

— Erin Strecker, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of commandeers

Verb

Some have ruled that federal law preempts or blocks states and counties from suing under state law.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
The court could also choose to make clear that state-law damages claims could go forward, or that federal law preempts the claims altogether.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026