1
as in seizing
to take or make use of under a guise of authority but without actual right
dissidents were shot, and their lands expropriated under his regime
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in evicting
to end the occupancy or possession of
the state will have to expropriate scores of homeowners in order to build the new road
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in confiscating
to take ownership or control of (something) by right of one's authority
plans by the city to expropriate entire blocks of houses in order to bulldoze them for expansion of the airport
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for expropriating
Verb
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But seizing current oil production is one thing; overhauling Venezuela's entire oil industry would be another.—
Camila Domonoske, NPR, 7 Jan. 2026
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Trump has occasionally discussed seizing Greenland since his first term but few initially took his threats seriously.—
Verb
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The officers went to the house in the Bermuda Club neighborhood near Vero Beach, where a resident of the home was evicting her son, Flowers said Friday.—
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The county has been in the process of evicting the Dolphin Company, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.—
Verb
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After confiscating the device, officials downloaded its data to look at the GPS locations of where the drone had been.—
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Jewish settlers arriving from Europe are confiscating more and more of their land, enabled and protected by the British administrators of the region.—
Verb
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Bregman played his first nine seasons with the Houston Astros, winning World Series titles in 2017 and 2022 — although the first of those yielded a sign-stealing scandal that earned Bregman and his teammates plenty of scorn.—
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Jacob Elordi is known for stealing hearts on and off-screen.—
Verb
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How a state comes to control another land and its people, sometimes slowly dispossessing the natives of their lands, sometimes laying waste to them, sometimes committing genocide.—
Verb
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The War of the Two Caesars also serves as a nice mirror for everything going down with the Brotherhood, Elder Cleric Quintus still hellbent on usurping the Commonwealth despite the arrival of Kumail Nanjiani’s Paladin Xander Harkness, an emissary from that neck of the woods.—
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The District of Columbia attorney general, however, accused the administration of unlawfully usurping control of the city’s law enforcement and violating a law prohibiting troops from doing domestic police work.—
Verb
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The teacher’s union, which represents nearly 2 million members, filed a lawsuit against the administration in March, accusing it of depriving student loan borrowers of their rights.—
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George’s children have never been born, depriving the world of Zuzu’s petals.—
Verb
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Take after the actress by grabbing them in black, or choose from six additional colors, including burgundy and deep brown.—
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Healthy cooking often boils down to accessibility and convenience; busy lives can leave people grabbing less nutritious alternatives.—
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Cite this Entry
“Expropriating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expropriating. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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