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
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 Synonyms for expropriating
Verb
-
Authorities served a search warrant at the rescue on May 1, seizing electronics, business records, financial records, firearms, and other evidence, according to the sheriff.
-
For leadership teams worldwide, this requires striking a careful balance between responding to immediate disruption and seizing arising opportunities to bolster growth.
Verb
-
The ordinance would require landlords to provide a valid reason before evicting a tenant or declining to renew their lease.
-
But in 2023, Kenya’s government began evicting them again, citing a new justification.
Verb
-
In some videos, survivors accused soldiers of looting apartments and confiscating donated supplies—claims that remain difficult to independently verify but have fueled widespread outrage.
-
Amid anecdotal reports that airport security services have been confiscating bottles of ranch dressing that sports tourists have tried to smuggle out of the country, Kraft Heinz came up with a TSA-friendly size of ranch dressing.
Verb
-
In December 1922, two Black men were abducted from the Pilot Point jail after being accused of stealing horses.
-
Wolfson and her friends would try the stunts at home, stealing shopping carts to push each other into curbs.
Verb
-
Mandi was in control of the ball, going nowhere fast, and there was little prospect of dispossessing him from Messi’s position.
-
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
-
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.
-
The opposition’s narrative that Hollywood is usurping home rule is entirely backward.
Verb
-
Some employees also owe their employers a deeper fiduciary duty, which one court has described as the duty to protect the employer’s interests and to avoid injuring the employer or depriving the employer of the employee’s skills.
-
Extreme heat is already a headache for many data centers, raising the chances electricity will go away, depriving customers of their sweet, sweet AI.
Verb
-
Americans are grabbing their passports and fleeing the country in hopes of leaving the nation’s problems behind.
-
Swanson argues those behind-the-scenes improvements have done more to modernize logistics than many of the industry’s headline-grabbing automation projects.
Cite this Entry
“Expropriating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/expropriating. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
